The New York Giants were down bad Sunday, trailing 20-0 at halftime to the Arizona Cardinals. The tally meant Big Blue had been outscored 60-0 in the first 90 minutes of action in the 2023 season.
It doesn't get much lower than that.
Then, the comeback started. Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley and the Giants' offense scored four second-half touchdowns, the defense shut out Arizona in the fourth quarter, and Graham Gano connected on a 34-yard field goal with 19 seconds remaining for a miraculous 31-28 comeback win.
After the victory, Daboll downplayed any motivation he provided at halftime that kickstarted the comeback.
"I think it's about the will of the player," he said. "And when you haven't scored a point in a game and a half and you come in at halftime, I'd say as a leader there is a delicate balance between focusing on the next play and maybe a little extra. But again, all the credit goes to the players, the play-callers, the assistant coaches. It was good to get this win. We made it hard, I'll tell you that. We made it hard."
The Giants' 21-point comeback is their largest in the Super Bowl era -- tied for the largest comeback in franchise history (also in 1945 and 1949). New York's previous largest comeback in the Super Bowl era was 19 points in Week 9, 1970, against Washington.
The turnaround was spearheaded by the offense finally getting on track. In the second half, Big Blue (1-1) generated 31 points, 358 total yards and 21 first downs (0/81/5 in first half). Jones put up the most passing yards of any half of his career with 259 in the final two quarters.
After six quarters of putrid play, Daboll's crew finally turned a corner.
"Again, to be able to keep competing, that's not always the easiest thing to do," he said. "But, we talked a little bit about it at halftime, I made my point. Ultimately, it's the players that have to go out there and execute."
The dramatic W didn't come without concerns hovering over the club. Barkley injured his ankle late in the contest. The running back underwent X-rays and will have more tests on Monday. However, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported that there is optimism from the team that Barkley avoided a major injury. The question is whether he could be ready on a quick turnaround for Thursday night's game against the San Francisco 49ers.
