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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants clinched their first postseason berth since 2016 with a 38-10 demolition of the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
They did it behind four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing) from quarterback Daniel Jones, who finished 19-of-24 passing for 177 yards and rushed for 91 yards on 11 carries in a dominant performance.
The Giants (9-6-1) needed only a win over the Colts to secure the sixth seed in the NFC playoffs, where they are likely to play either the San Francisco 49ers or Minnesota Vikings in the wild-card round. They clinched a winning season for just the second time in 10 years.
The last time the Giants reached the postseason, Ben McAdoo was the coach, Jerry Reese was the general manager and Eli Manning the quarterback. Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was in the midst of his third straight dominant season, which ended with a memorable boat trip and a Giants playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Landon Collins was also an All-Pro safety that season. Collins, in his second stint with the Giants, is now a part-time linebacker. He had an interception return for a touchdown (his first since 2016) late in the first half against the Colts to make the score 21-3.
The Giants’ success this season comes in their first year with Brian Daboll as head coach and Joe Schoen the general manager. They were hired earlier this year from the Buffalo Bills and tasked with turning around the struggling, once-proud franchise.
Schoen and Daboll took over an organization that was tied entering this season with the New York Jets for the worst record in the NFL over the previous five years. The Giants went 4-13 last season.
Their goal was always to try to rebuild and compete on the fly.
“Compete for today and build for tomorrow,” Schoen has said.
That is exactly what they have done. The Giants came into the season with a win total of six, per Caesars Sportsbook. They bested that before Halloween, with Jones playing the best football of his career and running back Saquon Barkley resembling his rookie year self. Barkley passed his career-best rushing total of 1,307 yards from his rookie season on Sunday afternoon.
Players such as Jones and Barkley have been through most of the tough times. This season marked the first time in their careers that they ever had a winning record. This will be their first foray into the postseason.
The same holds true for players such as Dexter Lawrence, Julian Love, Darius Slayton, Andrew Thomas and even Leonard Williams, who began his career with the Jets. Williams is in his eighth professional season. Barkley insisted recently the goal from the start has been to reach the playoffs.
“To be completely honest, that was the goal from the jump,” Barkley said after last week’s massive win in Washington that got the Giants back on track following a rough stretch. “That is every team’s goal when you start the season — to make it to the playoffs.
“You want to put yourself in a situation to do that. And we did that. We’ve got a tough stretch, continue to go down. We just have to find a way to win games. Whatever way it is. Whether it’s by 30, by two or three or comes down to the last play of the game, we just have to find ways and continue to believe in each other, trust the system and let it rip.”