Tag: 2023 nfl playoffs

Giants’ Kayvon Thibodeaux wore a ‘sexy’ top hat, and NFL fans adored his ‘Ebenezer Scrooge’ look

“Bah humbug,” said Thibodeaux, probably.

On paper, the New York Giants entered their NFC Wild Card Game matchup with the Minnesota Vikings as an underdog. But in a confident approach, Brian Daboll’s team was on Cloud Nine, while Daniel Jones had the game of his life, proving he’s worth a long-term commitment.

By the time Kenny Golladay selflessly sealed off a key gain with a pancake block on a clutch drive, and Kirk Cousins released a deflated convert-or-go-home fourth down pass — the upstart Giants had their first playoff win since Super Bowl 46.

Astonishing.

Take note of how 2022 top-five pick Kayvon Thibodeaux dressed after the adrenaline-rush win — adorned in a top hat and pajamas — and you realize this Giants team is also chockful of characters. After all, the Giants do have to make it look “sexy,” right?

Thibodeaux talks about bringing back the “old school” with his look. I think he’s not only achieving his personal goal of style, Daboll’s Giants are bringing back the old school by turning Big Blue into an NFC powerhouse again.

My only word of advice to Thibodeaux? The Giants’ pass rusher should look for three ghosts to visit him soon.

Bengals’ Sam Hubbard yoinked a scoop-and-score 98-yard fumble TD, and NFL fans were dumbfounded

It’s the LONGEST fumble return for a TD in NFL playoff history!!!

For much of Sunday night, the defending AFC champions, the Cincinnati Bengals, were barely holding their own. Despite backup quarterback Tyler Huntley starting for the hated Baltimore Ravens, this AFC Wild Card Game matchup was all knotted up at 17 points apiece near the end of the third quarter.

But fortune finally smiled in the Bengals’ favor on a Tyler Huntley QB sneak. As the Ravens’ backup signal-caller tried to reach over the line, Cincinnati’s Logan Wilson punched the ball out of Huntley’s hands right into the arms of Sam Hubbard. The defensive end proceeded to take the ball for a 98-yard fumble return touchdown going the other way, giving the Bengals an eventual 24-17 lead when they needed it most. (Oh, and Baltimore’s Mark Andrews came so close to catching him.)

In the wildest playoff potential 14-point swing and twist, Hubbard’s score is the longest fumble-return TD in NFL postseason history:

I don’t … know that I’ve ever seen a defensive player score a touchdown like that? Let alone in the postseason? Will I stop writing question marks? I don’t know? I’m so astounded by this late-game turn of events!

The Bengals were on the ropes for three quarters against an injury-depleted rival. Hubbard’s wild touchdown morphed those dire circumstances into a big-time playoff win for the reigning conference champions.

Tyler Huntley gave up a sloppy goal line fumble. NFL fans and writers crushed him for it

Ravens’ quarterback Huntley tried to reach the ball into the end zone. His efforts resulted in a touchdown … for the Bengals.

Tyler Huntley had a chance to notch the first playoff win of his career. The former undrafted free agent, starting in place of an injured Lamar Jackson and dealing with a nagging shoulder malady of his own, drove the Baltimore Ravens down to the Cincinnati Bengals’ two-yard line in the fourth quarter of a 17-17 game.

Two more yards and he’d give his team a touchdown lead on the road as an eight-point underdog. Three snaps without a gain and his Ravens would have to settle for three points from automatic kicker Justin Kicker. After a first-and-goal miss and a stuffed run up the middle, Huntley dialed up his own number for a play that ended in a touchdown.

A Cincinnati touchdown.

Huntley’s effort to extend the ball over the goal line in traffic resulted in an easy swat for linebacker Logan Wilson. The ball popped into defensive end Sam Hubbard’s hands. 98 yards later, a terrific Mark Andrews hustling effort aside, the Bengals had a defensive touchdown and a 24-17 lead.

The play was a brutal mistake from a young quarterback trying to put the team on his back. And in the moments that followed, analysts across Twitter weighed in on his regretful reach.

Brian Daboll brought his magic to the Giants, and they’re already an NFC contender

The Giants have a special head coach.

We underrate what a great football coach can help a team achieve.

We pillory the guys with abysmal time management but, in the end, we see this sport is player-oriented. To an extent, the age-old saying remains true: it’s not the Xs and Os, it’s the Jimmies and Joes.

Regardless of the abundance of physical and mental gifts a team of NFL players have, they’ll ultimately go nowhere without a superb leader. Someone still has to steer the ship through rough waters. If said team is, perhaps, a year or two ahead of schedule like Brian Daboll’s New York Giants, then that captain can elevate their players beyond the sum of their parts.

Daboll finally cemented his place as a head coach in the NFL when New York became the first team to win a road game in this year’s Wild Card round, surviving the Minnesota Vikings in a 31-24 instant classic. That’s how much a playoff win can build your reputation. Advance in the postseason in Year 1, do it when you weren’t supposed to, and it’s obvious you have more arrows in your quiver than most.

The Giants’ 17-game regular season resume was impressive this year, don’t twist my words. There was a lot to be proud of. New York had promising foundational pieces leading the way this fall, and Daboll utilized them well. At certain points, it really was all sunshine and rainbows for the G-Men.

A revitalized Saquon Barkley blasted through contact like he was a rookie. Second-Team All-Pro offensive tackle Andrew Thomas plowed paths forward for a top-five rushing attack and kept Daniel Jones upright. 2022 top-five pick Kayvon Thibodeaux blossomed and menaced quarterbacks like the pass-rush terror he’s capable of being. Jones finally played like a starting quarterback who tilts the field. Darius Slayton and Isaiah Hodgins embraced secondary roles in an offense not built for them. Or any pass-catchers for the time being. (This might be more of a chicken and egg kind of thing, honestly).

But none of these young men’s individual success or the Giants’ team flourishing matters without the feather in their cap from the playoffs.

Well, that’s wrong. Let me restate.

Regular-season success matters, but no one outside of a deeply-invested diehard remembers late-October wins over the Jaguars in what might as well be an eternity in NFL time compared to the games that count. They’re key steps forward for rebuilding for young teams — New York has the NFL’s fourth-youngest roster — but they don’t become chapters people remember reading until playoff magic is established. It might not be fair, but a coach and a team are defined by their postseason output.

If you disagree, those Marvin Lewis years with the Bengals were so much fun for all the proper reasons, right?

And after a surprising run to the NFC’s No. 6 seed, the Giants already enjoyed a quality 2022. Pack it in, boys. Live it up. You’ve done your thing, and you should hold yourself in high esteem. To take the next massive leap forward — advancing in a win-or-go-home game — is a little ambitious. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

All Daboll’s Giants have done all season is help themselves to the spread at their leisure. This iteration of the Giants wasn’t supposed to become one of the NFC’s heavyweights overnight. Big Blue had won 20 games in the previous six years combined. Yet, with Daboll at the wheel, here they are, one victory over a season-long Super Bowl favorite away from a berth in the NFC title game.

Every recent New York coach had some fatal flaw to lead it to doom. Ben McAdoo couldn’t keep his hands on the reins. Pat Shurmur was out of his wits whenever he possessed the lead headset. Joe Judge was a steak-head doofus boosted by past proximity to Bill Belichick.

Meanwhile, Daboll and his offensive coordinator Mike Kafka salvaged Daniel Jones and turned him into a signal-caller the Giants might be able to trust in the long term.

Despite some uneven edges, Daboll empowered Wink Martindale to build a defense that can attack on its best day and still has room to grow.

A selfless culture where previously benched wideouts like Kenny Golladay are serving up clutch pancake blocks in playoff games is the handiwork of, you guessed it, Daboll.

Though I suppose no one should be surprised that the man who turned Josh Allen into a Terminator could take this much responsibility on his plate.

Daboll is not like recent Giants coaches. Heck, he might not be like other recent coaches on other teams, either. What the Giants have done this year isn’t normal. Even if they fall short of the divisional rival Philadelphia Eagles next weekend, Daboll’s players will have already made an imprint.

They’ve already announced their presence to the football world, with the understanding improvements are still on the horizon. The last Giants’ playoff win before Sunday night was the organization’s Super Bowl 46 victory more than a decade ago. Daboll finally getting the monkey off their back is on-the-nose symbolism. The future in New York is very bright.

In the end, this Giants season has proven it’s not about the Jimmys and Joes and how they fare with the Xs and Os. It’s about the Brians and Daniels, and it took the next great football coach to do it.

Daniel Jones has earned the Giants trust — and money — in 2023 (and maybe beyond)

Jones was instrumental to the Giants’ first playoff win in more than a decade. Now it’s time for New York to extend his contract.

The New York Giants did not pick up the fifth year of Daniel Jones’ rookie contract. This decision, made back in the spring of 2022, made total sense at the time.

Jones had been a disappointment in his first three seasons in the league. After flashes of potential as a rookie, the former first round pick backslid. His play was notable mostly for the memes it generated. The Giants lost games, fired their coaching staff and looked to 2022 as the table-setting year to kick off a rebuild.

That’s not what happened. Jones, paired with the coach who’d helped make Josh Allen a superstar in Buffalo, took control of Brian Daboll’s offense and showcased the confidence and efficiency he’d sorely lacked early in his career. Daboll’s run-focused approach pushed a quarterback few believed in and a receiving corps whose top targets were Darius Slayton, Richie James and Isaiah Hodgins into the 2023 NFL Playoffs.

On Sunday, he delivered the franchise’s first playoff win since 2012. This wasn’t a function of a caretaker QB floating on the current of his defense. This was a game in which Daniel Jones, the quarterback whose most notable highlight the previous two seasons involved tripping over his own feet and stumbling to the ground like a baby giraffe, played undeniably great football.

Sunday’s 31-24 win over the NFC North champion Minnesota Vikings was a microcosm of the value Jones has delivered all season. He:

  • protected the ball, leading the charge on a day where the Giants turned the ball over zero times. This fell in line with his career-low 1.1 percent interception rate (best in the NFL)
  • ran the ball effectively, crashing through holes — often head first — en route to a team-high 78 rushing yards. This fell in line with his career-high 708 rushing yards in 2022.
  • elevated an unheralded receiving corps. Slayton, James and Hodgins combined for 16 catches and 224 yards.
  • threw for 301 yards. Actually, this was a new one. Jones only hit that threshold twice in the regular season — though once was vs. the Vikings in Week 16.

The young quarterback thrived for a team eager to set him up for success. His offense didn’t just operate well in traditional sets — it got massive returns when it unleashed blockers in space because Jones’ guys absolutely wanted to crush fools who got in his way.

True to Daboll’s regular season vision, Jones wasn’t asked to do too much through the air. Only one of his 35 passes traveled more than 20 yards in the air. But when pressed into action, we saw the player Dave Gettleman hoped the Duke star could become when he drafted him sixth overall in 2019.

This leaves New York with a decision to make. Jones will be a free agent this spring. He’ll be a commodity in a league that values dual-threat playmaking more than ever before. There’s no chance the Giants would let him hit the open market after not only leading this team to the postseason, but to a postseason road win.

The exact method of how he’s retained is up for debate. Boomer Esiason says Jones and the franchise are close on an extension, but there’s no telling just how close they may be. If that isn’t hammered out before the official start of the offseason New York will use the franchise tag to retain negotiation rights and, at the very least, keep him under contract for 2023 at an estimated cost of $32.445 million.

There’s precedent for this kind of late-contract resurgence from a vaunted but flawed draft prospect under a new head coach. Blake Bortles had a similar outlier year while leading the Jacksonville Jaguars within one quarter (and one whistled-down fumble return) of a Super Bowl in the fifth and final season of his rookie contract.  Rather than franchise tagging him at a cost of $23.2 million, the Jags opted for a three-year, $54 million extension that turned out to be a one year deal that delivered $26.5 million in guarantees by the time he was released a season later.

A similar deal for Jones would be along the lines of three years and $76 million with $37 million guaranteed. But Jones’ agents will likely shoot that down for good reason. Bortles, at the height of his powers in 2017, was the 18th most-efficient quarterback in the league that season, per the NFL’s advanced stats — just ahead of Tyrod Taylor and behind Josh McCown. Jones clocked in at 12th.

via RBSDM.com and the author

That, paired with a Giants team expected to have the third-most salary cap space of anyone this offseason per Over the Cap, likely bumps Jones’ three-year contract range into the $100 million range. Would New York acquiesce based on one season of results in Daboll’s new offense knowing more receiving help is on the way? Or would management roll with the franchise tag and punt that decision to 2024 while assessing its other options?

That’s the question that will loom over the offseason, pushed back at least one more week thanks to Jones’ heroics. Brian Daboll’s arrival turned a streaky player with more cache as a punchline than a quarterback into a viable playoff starter. But at the same time, Jones’ game relies heavily on short passes and his mobility can be wiped clean something as common as a sprained ankle — and given how often he runs into tackles rather than sliding, a significant risk. This isn’t the passing chart of an impact passer who can keep safeties honest simply by glancing downfield:

via nextgenstats.nfl.com

It is, however, the passing chart of a quarterback who went on the road and delivered his franchise’s first playoff victory in more than a decade. Jones’ role in New York’s success cannot be ignored. The question now is how much it will cost the Giants going forward.

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Kenny Golladay served up a beautiful pancake block to help spark Giants’ game-winning TD drive

We’re calling it “The Block,” right?

The 2022 New York Giants have been a team that’s probably played beyond its means. Yes, everyone who is in the NFL belongs at this level of the game, but the disparity — at least at the skill positions — is vast between Big Blue and a solid portion of its peers.

Yet, the Giants have exceeded expectations. They’ve been a team of players doing more than their prescribed role. Take Kenny Golladay, for instance.

With New York trying to take pole position in the early fourth quarter in an instant classic on the road against the Minnesota Vikings, someone had to go above and beyond. Someone had to add to their responsibility to help push their teammates over the top.

After the Giants fell behind on the sticks on a second-and-long, they went to Saquon Barkley to work some magic. Barkley would gain 10 on a run-and-catch to put the Giants just outside the red zone. The tailback would’ve gone nowhere if Golladay — a much-maligned pass catcher — hadn’t served up a beautiful pancake clock:

Incredible. The Giants, and Barkley, would go on to punch it in for the eventual 31-24 game-winning score. And a player like Golladay, putting his body on the line, who’s barely produced like a backup-level WR despite a previous substantial financial commitment, is an embodiment of the selfless mentality Brian Daboll has established in New York so quickly.

The Giants won’t be favored to win in Philadelphia next weekend. But if guys like Golladay push themselves like this, it certainly can’t be ruled out.

NFL fans crushed the refs for gifting the Bills a controversial game-icing first down

It sure looked like Devin Singletary was clearly short of the line.

Seemingly against all odds, the Miami Dolphins went into Western New York on Sunday and gave the Buffalo Bills all they could handle. Even with backup Skylar Thompson at the helm of the Dolphins’ offense — who played an admirable game in his own right — the Dolphins never stopped coming.

They got into Josh Allen’s head, who turned the ball over three times. After a Tony Romo jinx, defensive tackle Zach Sieler revved the party up with a wild big-man score. And, in the end, despite egregious time management miscues on their final offensive possession, the Dolphins still had a faint chance of extending this instant classic to overtime.

All they had to do was stop the Bills from getting a first down as they tried to ice the clock. Simple, right? Not necessarily an easy task, but it’s a straightforward path to getting the ball back. Unfortunately, the officiating crew on hand had different ideas.

With the Dolphins’ season on the line, Devin Singletary took a third-down handoff running on the left side and gained a rather generous Herculean seven yards to ice the game in a 34-31 Bills win. That is to say, Singletary seemed to be well short from various angles, but he was strangely awarded the controversial first down anyway.

Let’s take a closer look at a still image of Singletary as he was stood up by Dolphins defenders:

The yellow broadcast line isn’t official, but there’s a lot of evident space between Singletary and where the down marker is. Since the initial call on the field was a Singletary first down, any review had to be clear to overturn. Oh yeah, you know how this one ends: The call stood because there wasn’t enough evidence to push it the other way.

Now, the Dolphins would have had to make a likely fourth-and-short stop with the Human Behemoth Allen potentially putting himself in position for a simple QB sneak. And even then, they’d still have to get a tying long field goal with mere seconds remaining on the clock. Not a sure thing and, yes, improbable, but it feels like Miami was robbed of the first step in that game-tying path on Singletary’s “first down.”

Instead of a last-gasp desperate stop/offensive heave, the Dolphins’ season ends with a clumsy whimper instigated by what resembles poor officiating.

The Dolphins’ abysmal play clock management on their final drive had NFL fans going nuts

NFL fans aren’t happy with Mike McDaniel’s play clock management…

It’s fair to say Mike McDaniel would want a redo of this pivotal fourth down moment that decided the Miami Dolphins season.

On Sunday, the Dolphins were down 34-31 against the heavily favored Buffalo Bills in the AFC Wild Card but were pressing late in the game. The Dolphins had the ball at their 47-yard line with three and a half minutes to play in the fourth and were facing a third and two. Salvon Ahmed’s run up the gut ended short of the sticks, bringing up a fourth and one with the season essentially on the line for the Dolphins.

Thanks to earlier play clock shenanigans, the Dolphins had no time outs left, meaning this play was likely the last Miami would get offensively unless they converted. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, McDaniel and crew spent essentially all of the clock deliberating, with Miami finally stepping up to the line with four seconds left on the play clock. And that was after the play clock reset itself, giving the Dolphins even more time to come up with a fourth down call.

The result? A delay of game penalty which backed the Dolphins up and resulted in an eventual incomplete pass from Skylar Thompson to seal the deal.

While it definitely seems like McDaniel thought the Dolphins picked up the first, causing confusion that stalled the team’s decision making, this was still completely unacceptable in such an important moment.

NFL fans were totally blown away by the Dolphins’ abysmal play clock management in what was their last offensive possession of the game.

Dolphins DT Zach Sieler’s wife was in tears after her husband scored an unlikely TD vs. the Bills

You LOVE to see wholesome reactions like in the postseason.

One of the more underrated aspects of the playoffs is how family members of players react to monumental moments. There’s almost nothing better than seeing a loved one revel in a big play in a clutch performance, especially when they get emotional.

On Sunday afternoon, all chaos broke loose once Tony Romo jinxed Josh Allen and the Miami Dolphins’ Zach Sieler scored an awesome big-man touchdown to stun the Buffalo Bills. It was a shocking moment — on Allen’s third turnover of the afternoon — befitting a potentially massive upset of a genuine Super Bowl contender in Buffalo.

In reaction on Twitter, Sieler’s wife, Hannah, posted a wholesome reaction video from the stadium in Buffalo. She was brought to tears by her husband scoring on the unthinkable, momentum-shifting play, and it was just the best to see:

Oh man, that is special. One can only imagine the wave of emotions going through Sieler’s mind as he romped his way into the end zone. Once he learns how his wife reacted — ideally in a Dolphins’ win for the couple — I’m sure he’ll be elated and over the moon.

Tony Romo hilariously jinxed Josh Allen before a Dolphins strip-sack TD and fans couldn’t believe it

“I just feel like Josh Allen is about to take off here.”

Tony Romo invoked the most terrible and awful of curses upon Josh Allen: the dreaded announcer curse.

On Sunday, the Miami Dolphins were surprisingly holding their own against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Wild Card. The Bills held a 20-17 lead at halftime and Allen was set to take the field for the first time after the Dolphins went three-and-out to start the second half.

Unfortunately for the Bills, Romo absolutely jinxed Allen as Buffalo was lining up for its first play of the half. After Romo sung Allen’s praises and stated the Bills quarterback was set for a breakout second half, the Dolphins forced a strip-sack fumble that turned into a Miami touchdown for the 24-20 lead.

That’s absolutely brutal right there. What an incredible job from Zach Sieler there to scoop that ball up for a Dolphins touchdown and really put the heat on the favored Bills.

NFL fans, however, couldn’t believe Romo’s stunning jinx of Allen on this strip-sack touchdown.