Daniel Jones Shines in Giants' Upset Victory Against Seattle

Jones is starting to stack good performances after his rough Week 1 outing.

Oct 6, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) talks with head coach Brian Daboll, right) during the second quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. New York Giants quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney stands in the middle. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

The New York Giants pulled out an upset victory in Week 5 against the Seattle Seahawks, and while there were several heroes in this one, one of the biggest stars of the game was quarterback Daniel Jones, who has slowly been rebounding from a disastrous Week 1 showing. 

Jones, who has shown himself to be as mentally tough off the field as he is on the field, said the key has been to keep his focus on what he can control and block out the growing chatter calling for his job.

"I think just knowing what's real, knowing what's actually going on, what happened,” Jones said of how he’s avoided becoming distracted amid cries for his job. 

“You know, you can't follow the storyline of the week. You know, I think that's just about focusing on what we do, listening to the opinions that matter: the people in the building, coaches, teammates. … So I thought we did a good job of that this week, and that's important for us as a team.”

Jones certainly blocked out the noise on Sunday, tossing two touchdowns and 257 yards en route to a very productive day for the Giants offense. The impressive part about this is Jones performed well without star rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers.

Instead, Darius Slayton, who like Jones was part of the team’s 2019 draft class, delivered a 100-yard receiving day, catching eight of 11 pass targets for 122 yards and one touchdown.  

Daniel Jones vs the blitz in Week 5

🍎 13/17
🍎 130 passing yards
🍎 2 TDs/0 INTs pic.twitter.com/Oxsgemwy3P

— PFF (@PFF) October 6, 2024

"You know, we've said since training camp how much we like our skill guys and how deep we think those positions are,” Jones said. “You saw a lot of guys step up today and make a lot of plays. When we say that, we mean it. We have a lot of confidence in those guys."

Another guy who stepped up was rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr., who filled in for the injured Singletary. Tracy rushed for 129 yards on 18 carries and became the first Giants rookie running back to rush for 100+ yards in a game since Saquon Barkley in 2018. 

"He's a hard guy to tackle,” Jones said. “He hit the hole hard and then made guys miss at the second level on a couple of those runs. I thought he had a really good game."

The offensive line played a large part in that. They've been solid in pass protection but had struggled in the run game before this week. It was evident in Week 4 when the Giants rushed for just 26 yards on 24 attempts. 

This week, the offensive line was on its game, both in run and pass blocking. Moreover, it didn’t commit a single pre-snap penalty in Lumen Field's deafening environment.  

"I thought they did a really good job executing and giving our backs places to run. Backs did a good job hitting it. I think (we) mixed up different schemes and stuff that was all good and productive for us," Jones said.

Jones also enjoyed success with play-action, which per NextGen Stats, he ran on 35.9% of his dropbacs this week. He completed 9 of 12 play-action passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns.

The thing fans were likely most pleased to see was Jones' ability to hit the deep ball. He hit a 41-yard pass to Slayton along the sideline, then a 30-yard touchdown to Slayton again just a few plays later.  

Jones played another solid game. He made the right decisions, took chances when he needed to and fought for extra yards with his legs. He helped lead the Giants to their second win of the season and could potentially add more if his play continues.

And head coach Brian Daboll was happy with Jones’s performance.

“It's always been fun to coach him because he's a true pro,” he said. “Again, always want the results, but have a lot of confidence in him, how he's playing, how he's preparing. 

“You know, feel comfortable putting the ball in his hands. That's what we did early in the game. We went after them a little bit throwing the ball. So got a lot of confidence in him.” 

---

• Follow and like us on Facebook.
• Submit your questions for our mailbag.
• Follow on Instagram.
• Check out the Giants Country YouTube Channel.