Giants Country

New York Giants Trailing Vikings 10-7 at Halftime

The Giants can help their playoff cause if they can overcome the halftime deficit.

Patricia Traina

Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

The New York Giants trail the Minnesota Vikings 10-7 at the half in their Christmas Eve day game.

The Vikings broke the scoreless tie with an eight-play, 84-yard scoring drive in which Minnesota never experienced a third down.

The Vikings benefitted from two chunk plays of 25 and 13 yards from receiver Justin Jefferson to help push the ball down the field, the drive ending on a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end T.J. Hockenson.

On the play, Giants defensive lineman Leonard Williams was flagged for roughing the passer for going low against Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins.

The Vikings extended their lead to 10-0 in the second quarter on a 40-yard field goal by Greg Joseph, the drive resulting from a forced fumble and recovery by Vikings linebacker Brian Asamoah, who stripped the ball away from Giants' tight end Daniel Bellinger.

Isaiah Hodgins got the Giants on the board with his third touchdown since joining the team, that coming on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Jones, capping a drive in which the Giants did not face a third down.

The scoring drive went for ten plays and 69 drives and saw Jones go five-for-five in driving the Giants down the field.

The Giants had two chances to either tie or take the lead. The first came on their promising-looking final drive of the first half, which ended when cornerback Patrick Peterson knocked the Giants out of field goal position.

The second opportunity came when Giants cornerback Fabian Moreau picked off Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and returned it to the Vikings' 16-yard line. However, Moreau was called for defensive pass interference, which nullified the interception and gave the ball back to the Vikings.

Giants running back Saquon Barkley led the team with 36 yards on seven carries, while quarterback Daniel Jones had 24 rushing yards on two carries, the yardage making Jones the first Giants quarterback to go over 600 rushing yards in a season.

Jones is also 14 of 19 at the half for 146 yards and one touchdown and was sacked twice. His leading receiver is Hodgins, who caught all five of his pass targets for 63 yards and a touchdown, his receiving yardage a new career-high.

Giants outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari was carted into the locker room in the second quarter with an ankle injury and was questionable to return.

The Giants can take a step toward clinching their first playoff berth since 2016 if they can beat the Vikings and if two of Seattle, Detroit, and Washington lose their respective games.

Join the Giants Country Community

Published
Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

Home/Game Day