Daniel Jones proves himself to be QB Giants dreamed of

MINNEAPOLIS – No longer Danny Dimes.

It’s Danny Dollar.

is money.

This wasn’t Phil Simms torching the John Elway Broncos in Super Bowl XXI. Eli Manning wouldn’t have shocked Tom Brady and the Perfect Patriots at the end of Super Bowl XLII.

But then Giants first playoff game win in 11 years, 31-24 over Vikingsafter winning his first playoff game, it definitely felt great for the guy who would be king and Brian DaPaul Giants three years later when no one thought Jones would ascend to the throne.

The throne was anointed for him to sit on when Manning’s succession plan finally began in earnest.

“He walked in and people were chanting, ‘DJ’ when he walked in,” said Leonard Williams. “He’s like a hero here now. You can just see the confidence emitting from him now. I guess we don’t want anyone else to lead us now.”

All season long, they’ve seen Daniel Jones be their fearless leader, they’ve seen him shoot through narrow windows, they’ve seen him use his legs as a deadly weapon, and they’ve seen him at his best five times when he was at his best. Required in the fourth quarter.

He never blinked, he never backed down when the hellhounds barked at him during those years when the Giants did everything possible to screw him up and he never blinked, never backed down on Sunday in the face of the biggest game of his football career.

Now — after throwing for 301 yards and two touchdowns and rushing 17 times for 78 yards — he went to Link on Saturday to try to hold off the top-ranked Eagles from a three-game sweep of the Giants in what would be the biggest game of his life. much of their football career.

The game that would put the Giants within 60 minutes of Super Bowl 2023 should they pull off the upset.

John Mara was stopped in the middle of this cheery Giants locker room and marveled at the way the franchise quarterback performs.

“For me, that was poise,” Mara said. “This building is as high as they can get, and you look at it, and they have complete control of the offense. It’s given me a lot of confidence that I don’t care how many times they score, we’re going to score more.”

I asked Mara when it became final for him to have Daniel Jones as the quarterback of the future.

“It’s been a while… I think it just keeps getting better every week,” Mara said.

Mara laughed when he suggested he got Eli’s succession plan right (yes, with the help of former general manager Dave Gettelman) and said, “Hey, I can’t screw everything up, I gotta get something right.”

Little Brother Chris Mara: “We just pushed someone forward.”

When asked what he thought of the quarterback, Steve Tech smiled and said, “The world.”

fighter. Battlefield commander.

“I know we have an outstanding player in the middle but we also have great players around him as well so we have him ready no matter what,” said Saquon Barkley.

You can’t spell elite without the letters E, L, and I, remember?

There’s an E, L, and I in Daniel, too.

“I just tried to kind of stay present and lock in what I got to do as much as possible,” said Jones.

The Vikings were 24, Giants 24 when Jones recovered it at their own 25 with 12:34 remaining.

The crowd roared.

And Daniel Jones went to work.

Marching his team to the Vikings 7, Daboll never settled for a field goal.

Not the way he was playing his defense.

Not the way Daniel Jones was playing.

“He played a great game,” said Darius Slayton, “but that’s what great players do.”

Jones gained two yards on a guard, and when Barkley, who scored a 28-yard TD run in the first quarter, made his way from the 2, the Giants were 31, and the Vikings 24 with 7:47 remaining.

“I think we had a lot of fun,” Jones said. “We love the opportunity to compete and play in the big games.”

Jones quickly had two fourths and one at the age of forty-five.

Daboll called the time.

3:28 left.

He was going for it.

He wasn’t riding the way he was playing his defense.

Or the way Jones was playing.

“You want to be in these situations, and you want to have the opportunity to transform,” Jones said.

Jones caught Daboll with another quarterback keeper for a 2-yard run. Slayton dropped what could have been a third dagger and 15 but Wink Martindale played young Bill Belichick at the time of the crisis.

Giants dance in the locker room. “No matter who’s on my left or right, whether it’s a equipment guy, a coach, someone on the practice squad, a baseline person, no matter who it is, everybody just looks at each other and says, ‘” Williams said, relishing his first playoff win of his season. The eighth, “I love you, like congratulations,” “And I feel like that kind of camaraderie and teamwork is where we are now in the first place and I feel like that’s what made us win today as well.”

Now the eagles.

“I’m looking forward to the Eagles game, like you couldn’t believe,” Chris Mara told The Post.