Giants’ Daniel Jones looks ‘better’ than 2022 form

SEATTLE — There were fans clad in blue Giants jerseys behind a barrier applauding Daniel Jones as he began making his way from the locker room to the interview room, and he smiled and pumped his left fist towards them.

A season can turn on a dime in the NFL.

Can this Giants season possibly turn on Danny Dimes?

The 2024 Daniel Jones is winning over Brian Daboll and his teammates even if a segment of the fan base chooses to view him as the lame-duck quarterback of the Giants.

There were plenty of heroes for the Giants — 29-20 winners over the Seahawks — from Isaiah Simmons, who blocked the 47-yard FG that could have forced overtime, to Tyrone Tracy Jr., who was 18-129 rushing in place of Devin Singletary, to Darius Slayton, who was 8-122-1 TD with Malik Nabers back east with his concussion, to an offensive line that redeemed itself for 26 rushing yards against the Cowboys, to Dexter Lawrence (three sacks) and his defense, to Daboll and his coaching staff.

But the 2-3 Giants have given themselves the chance to have a season that no one expects except themselves mostly because Daniel Jones (22-34, 257 yards, 2 TDs) has risen from the ashes.

He was the battlefield commander that his undermanned team desperately needed. He is no longer hesitant to put his shoulder down and run through people (10-39 rushing before the game-ending kneel). He is running the offense the way Daboll wants it run.

And that 41-yard bomb he launched to Slayton down the right sideline, and the 30-yard TD pass to Slayton across the field that followed to make it Giants 17, Seahawks 10. His deep ball is back. At least it was on Sunday. You can’t win in this league operating a centipede offense. A Little Engine That Could.

“We hit the shots today that everybody’s been saying we need to hit,” Slayton said.

Jones’ 109.6 passer rating was his third at or above the century mark in five games. He did what a quarterback is expected to do: get his team in the end zone and win. Against the howling of the legendary 12s.

“We understand who we are and what we can be,” Jones said.

In the third year of the Daboll offense, with Daboll calling plays, with the torn ACL no longer a physical or mental block, with the best offensive line he has had and his first true No. 1 receiver in Nabers, it is still to be determined who Jones is and what he can be.

Can he be the 2022 Daniel Jones? The one who made him the $160M Man?

“I don’t know if I’m comparing my performance to anything in the past,” Jones said. “I think just kind of focusing on what I’m doing right now.

“I feel like I’m a better player than I was then. I’m a better player every week, and that’s what you’re always striving for. I get comparing to ’22 or years past; I don’t know how productive that really is. I’m just focused on getting better right now and being the best I can be, week to week.”

Giants fans who verbally assaulted Jones following his disastrous opener will now be forced to listen to his teammates in full agreement with him. The 2022 Daniel Jones (15 TDs, 5 INTs, 120-708-7 TDs rushing) versus the 2024 Daniel Jones (6 TDs, 3 INTs, 34-108-0 TDs rushing).

“I think it’s better; I think he’s been having better games,” Lawrence said.

His field generalship with Nabers and Singletary missing was an eye-opener. He’s been written off, and, with apologies to Geno Smith, he ain’t write back.

“There’ll always be a story of the week or a kind of idea that’s out there, and it’s our job to know what’s real and know what’s going on and to fix the problems that are real but also to ignore the things that aren’t t,” Jones said.

The deep-ball problem could not be ignored. “That’s another storyline I guess there,” Jones said with a smile.

He laughed when I pointed out that he had told everyone that he believed he was in a good spot with his deep ball after some costly underthrows against the Cowboys.

“Yeah, I’m confident in my deep ball,” Jones said. “Keep throwing it and trusting it.”

An NFL season can turn on a dime. Can it turn on Danny Dimes?