Giants' defense paved way for Daniel Jones' special moment - New York Post

TAMPA, Fla. — The outcome itself was enough of an upset, especially when you consider the Giants had spotted the Buccaneers an 18-point halftime lead, 28-10.

And while the immediate heroes of the Giants’ stunning and stirring 32-31 win may have been quarterback Daniel Jones for his final-drive heroics and Tampa Bay kicker Matt Gay for shanking a 34-yard game-winning field goal at the end, the unsung hero came from a most unlikely source.

The Giants’ defense.

Not only did the unit as a whole only allow three second-half points after getting torched the first 30 minutes, they stood up and allowed the kid quarterback to have his first shining defining moment.

With just under 3 ½ minutes to go in the game, the Bucs had a third-and-2 from their own 30. The Giants had already squandered one timeout after making a questionable challenge on a pass interference penalty and they’d just taken No. 2. If Tampa Bay had made the first down there they wouldn’t have clinched the game, necessarily, but would likely have been able to burn all but a minute and a half, worst case.

Jameis Winston zipped the ball to tight end Cameron Brate who seemed to have momentum to surge to the 32, which would’ve been enough to get the first down.

But Giants safety Michael Thomas made the hit and dragged Brate to the ground a yard shy of the marker.

“I had to make my way through the trash [the traffic between him and the ball] and make the play,” Thomas said. “It was bang-bang get there and then I had to get him to the ground. It was a do-or-die kind of play.”

And to Thomas, it was the kind of play that underlined what he and his mates had been able to do all during the second half.

“At some point you’ve got to stop talking about it, man up, and do it,” he said.

The Giants’ offense did the rest, and ultimately scored the winning points on a 7-yard run by Jones.

“That has to be how we are, every one of us,” Thomas said. “We have to have a next-man-up mentality and make a play when it’s your turn to make a play.”

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