The NY Giants started the 2022 season with an upset win on the road versus the Tennessee Titans. Coach Brian Daboll shows great confidence in the team on offense and defense as the Giants stormed back in the second half to catch the Titans.
Saquon Being Saquon
Saquon Barkley has carried a chip on his shoulder all offseason, telling fans and media who doubted his ability to stay on their side of the table as the season unfolds. Last season, Saquon was still recovering from his 2020 ACL tear. He gained just 593 yards on the ground last year in 13 games. Well, it took just one game for Saquon to put any doubts aside about his ability to rise to the star he was in his rookie season. The Giants’ star running back gained 164 yards on the ground against the Titans. That’s 28% of last year’s total in one game. He also caught six passes for another 30 yards. Not only did Barkley gain a total of 194 yards, but he totally outgained another superstar running back, Derrick Henry, by doubling up Henry’s total yardage of 82 yards. Saquon totaled 24 touches which is not an overly large amount. As if to put a cherry on top of this special Sunday, Saquon made it a point on more than one carry to lower his head and plow through the Titans’ would-be tacklers.
Comeback Kids
There’s a mindset of “no quit” in this 2022 Giants team. That emanates from Coach Daboll through the coaches through the veterans and down to every last player on this team. That’s a lot to say after just one game that counts. But, the Giants showed that trait in every game of the preseason too, playing a full four quarters of every game. Down 0-13 at halftime, this team came out in the second half with determination to make this a game. After battling back to within one point with just over a minute to go in the game, Coach Daboll decided to go for a two-point conversion and the lead. The players said they expected this decision given Daboll’s talk during camp about being aggressive when it counts. And he backed that up with the call to go for two points. “He’s a man of his word,” Barkley said. “He told us he was going to be aggressive and he told us he was going to lean on the players to make plays. In that situation, we did exactly that. When you have a coach like that, it definitely will make you go out there and fight for him and execute in that situation.”
Game Balls
In a classy, team-oriented move after the game, and to acknowledge the fresh sense of a total shift in the forward-looking focus of this new management team, Barkley awarded game balls to both GM Joe Schoen and Head Coach Brian Daboll for their first victory as leaders of this storied franchise. Let’s hope this is a sign of more good things to come in 2022 and beyond.
