William Shakespeare once wrote to open his venerable play Hamlet, "There is more to Heaven and Earth, than are dreamt in your philosophy...".
It turns out England's most famous playwright was right; and it was fitting that in London, England, the New York Giants did the unthinkable: beat Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers 27-22 to improve to 4-1.
No! No possible. It happened.
Daniel Jones was near perfect, completing 21-of-27 passes for 217 yards and engineered a 17-point swing as the Giants erased a 17-3 deficit and turned it into a 27-20 lead in the fourth quarter. Blasphemy? I think not.
If anyone had any doubts about the Giants, there should be little now. They are good, and they are for real. And in the NFC East that many thought would be a two-team race between the Eagles and Cowboys, well here come the G-Men.
Give credit to Brian Daboll and his coaching staff. When the Giants fell behind 17-3 midway through the second quarter it was easy to get down and just roll over. Up to this point, Rodgers had thrown two touchdown passes, and the Giants had only mustered a field goal.
But then things changed on the Giants ensuing possession.
On a second and seven at the Giants' own 22 yard, Saquon Barkley took the direct snap and sprinted past the left for a 40-yard gain to the Packers' 38. It changed the momentum of the game.
Later Daniel Jones hit Darious Slayton for a 10-yard gain on third and nine at the Packers 15 to set up a first and goal situation. Two plays later Daniel Bellinger plowed into the end zone to cut the Green Bay deficit to 17-10.
By the start of the third quarter, Big Blue upped the tempo. They exploded out of the gate on an 11-play, 56 yard drive that culminated in a Graham Gano field goal that cut the Packers lead to 20-13.
After the packers failed to move the football on its first possession of the half, Jones took over. He completed seven-of-eight passes for 55 yards, and scrambled three times for 25 more yards as the Giants moved all the way down to the Packers two yard line. Finally Jones pitched it Gary Brightwell, who plowed in for the game tying score.
Once again the Giants answered the bell defensively, forcing another Green Bay three-and-out, before giving the ball back to Jones and this suddenly clicking offense. And like he did throughout this game, Jones was pitch perfect. His dump-off pass to Barkley turned into a 41-yard gain, setting the Giants up pretty at the 19. A few plays later Barkely plowed in from two-yards out to give the Giants their first lead of the day.
Now it was up the defense again, and give the G-Men credit they were ready. Rodgers drove the Packers all the way to the shadows of the Giants goal-line, but Big Blue made its stop when on third and fourth down, both Kayvon Thibodeaux and Xavier McKinney blocked passes to turn the ball over on downs.
When the Giants needed one more stop a minute or so later in order to prevent Rodgers from attempting his signature hail marry play, the Giants rushed three and sacked the MVP quarterback before he could release the football.
Giants football is back baby.
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