Roughly 5 months ago, the New York Giants had absolutely zero hope. Now, after one of the most surprising seasons in recent memory, they are an organization filled with hope and optimism. This was a season filled with late game comebacks, upset wins, and just some overall amazing memories. Here are my top 5 favorite moments from this season.
Kenny Golladay’s $72 Million Touchdown
Listen, I know this didn’t come in a huge win, and it didn’t even give the Giants the lead in this meaningless game. But this play was absolutely hilarious. Kenny Golladay, the 72 million dollar man, in what is almost certainly his last regular season game with the Giants, scored a touchdown on notorious trash talker Darius Slay on a pass from DAVIS WEBB to seal his first touchdown as a Giant.
His Giants career goes down as one of the most disappointing signings in franchise history. Shoot, he barely eclipsed 600 yards as a Giants. But this play made me legitimately jump out of my seat, and for that, it will always be remembered by me.
Bootlegging all over the Bears
Growing up in Bears country as a Giants fan, I have had to sit through a lot of trash talk in my life. To be honest, the week leading up to this game may have been the most trash talk I have ever heard in my entire life. Obviously, as a Giants fan who likes to instigate, I literally wore an article of Giants clothing every day that week, and man did I hear it from Bears fans. “Jones is a bust” “The Giants are frauds” “The Giants have no shot”- I heard it all. So let me tell you, watching Daniel Jones literally run the same bootleg all game to perfection in the 80’s throwbacks, with 68 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground, that was a win that still makes me smile when I think about it.
This pretty much sums up how both Giants and Bears fans felt that day, and oh boy was it glorious.
Early Morning Heroics in London
Waking up at 8:30 after a night at the bars to watch the Giants go down double digits to the Packers made me legitimately contemplate what I was doing with my life. It felt like everything I had gotten so excited about to this point in the season was completely falling apart, and that the Giants were going to go back to being the same ole Giants that I had been watching lose 10+ games every year for the previous 6 years. But then, something funny started to happen. Saquon Barkley, after suffering a shoulder injury, asserted his dominance.
Reminder, through this point in the season, this was considered an off game for Barkley, just in case you forgot how insane his start to the year was. Along with this, the Giants defense decided to stand up strong in the second half, and after 17 unanswered points in the second half, including a Barkley 2 yard touchdown to take the lead, the defense again came up clutch, capping it off with an Xavier Mckinney deflection of 4th down to give the Giants the win. The Giants were suddenly 4-1, and that was a bloody good game across the pond!
Brian Dabolls of Steel
The Giants went into Tennessee week 1 with zero expectations. They were coming off of a 4-13 season, where they then had to cut multiple starters due to Dave G*ttleman putting them in maybe the worst cap situation in the NFL considering their record. After a disastrous first half where they went down 13-0 to the Titans, the Giants made a furious comeback, making it a 20-13 game where they had the ball and a chance to tie it. After a beautiful drive capped off with a DJ touchdown to backup tight end Chris Myarick. Brian Daboll then showed what he is made of, going for 2 which resulted in a DJ shovel pass followed by a Saquon flex. After a Randy Bullock missed field goal, the Giants were 1-0, and I had almost jumped through my ceiling (shown below).
New York Groove
The week leading up to the Giants playoff game in Minnesota may have been the longest week of my entire life. I had not been that excited for a game for at least 6 years, and probably 11 years. After the Giants put on a show in a close game with the Vikings on Thanksgiving, I knew there was fun in store for us Giants fans. I did not realize how much fun, though. This was the kind of game that makes you question why you put yourself through the stress of being an NFL fan during the game, then gives you an adrenaline rush for the week after following the final whistle.
With absolutely electric performances from Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley, Isaiah Hodgins, Dexter Lawrence, and so many others, this game gave me complete faith that the Giants would go all the way, and while all of my hopes and dreams were shattered the following week, it was fun while it lasted. I’ll never forget that last Xavier McKinney tackle on TJ Hockenson to seal it, followed by my Dad and I driving around listening to New York Groove by Ace Frehley. Definitely an all-time sports moment for me.
Final Thoughts
This was easily one of my favorite seasons ever as a Giants fan. The highs were so high that they left me feeling as though I was floating for the following weeks, and the lows were so low that I questioned why I even put myself through it. But that is exactly what sports are about. Living and dying with your team. And that’s exactly what I did this year, and I loved every second of it.
Cover Image via Getty Images