The Giants traveled across the pond for a Week 5 matchup with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in London, and emerged with their fourth victory of the season.
Experts across the NFL world weighed in on the Giants' big win over Green Bay and their hot start to the 2022 season.
Here are the expert takeaways.
In his weekly 'Football Morning in America' column, NBC Sports' Peter King led the piece by pointing a lot of praise towards the Giants and the coaching staff. As King wrote, "Coaches don't win without players. Players don't win without coaches. But of all the teams through the first month of the season, the New York Giants are the best example of a team that has gotten every drop out of its players through good teaching and coaching." It should come as no surprise that later in the article in his weekly award section, King named Brian Daboll the Coach of the Week.
But the praise did not stop there. Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was named among King's Offensive players of the Week after he put together a gritty performance in helping the Giants pick up the Week 5 victory.
As King wrote, "After the 27-22 stunner over the Packers in London, coach Brian Daboll said: 'Quarterback had an excellent game. He's had a few of those.' The numbers were good—21 of 27, 217 yards, no TDs or picks, and a surprising 37 yards rushing on 10 carries—in Jones' first 200-yard passing game of the season. But this was about more than that. Jones was iffy all week with a bad ankle sprain, and somehow on the turf at Tottenham, he made enough plays to keep the Giants close. What stood out to me was 10 rushes for 37 yards on the bum ankle."
ESPN's Bill Barnwell wrote an article Monday morning on the changing landscape of the NFC East. Two years after the Washington Commanders won the division with a 7-9 record, the NFC East currently has three teams with 4 or more wins. Barnwell attributed the team's success to several factors, one of which is defensive coordinator Wink Martindale and his ability to make positive adjustments at halftime. Aaron Rodgers completed 18 of 24 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns in the first half of Sunday's game, with most of his throws coming on quick passes and run-pass options. However, things changed when the Giants came out of the locker room for the third quarter.
"In the second half, Martindale generally took away the shorter stuff and dared Rodgers to beat him deep," Barnwell said. "That's a risk most defenses simply aren't willing to take against a reigning back-to-back MVP. It worked. Rodgers' average pass distance went from 4.2 air yards in the first half to 12.4 air yards in the second half. After the break, he went 7-of-15 for 75 yards with a minus-14% completion percentage over expectation (CPOE). Martindale's injury-hit defense held Green Bay's offense scoreless, with its only points coming from an intentional safety with 11 seconds left."
Each week, ESPN's Dan Graziano judges some of the NFL's top narratives and decides whether or not they are an overreaction. Following the Giants' comeback win against the Packers, the second game in which they overcame a double digit, second-half deficit to win, many are discussing Daboll among the top Coach of the Year candidates. Graziano believes this sentiment is warranted and in fact, not an overreaction.
"(Daboll) and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale are coaching their tails off, and you can tell this Giants team believes in itself even if no one else believes in it," wrote Graziano. "That's a testament to coaching, as is the fact that they are always in the game late. Heck, in their only loss -- Week 3 against the Cowboys -- they were up 13-6 in the third quarter before Dallas rallied. Long way to go, but if they gave this award out after five weeks, it'd be Daboll's in a runaway."
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer wrote an in-depth piece about the factors that went into the win over the Packers. These ranged from the coaching staff's meticulous plan heading into the week, the team's ability to overcome injuries on both sides of the ball, and the scheme advantage the players believe they are getting from Daboll and Mike Kafka on offense and Martindale on defense. All of this to say the Giants have been perhaps the league's biggest surprise this year.
"Behind first-year coach Brian Daboll, a rejuvenated Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley, New York upended the Packers and claimed their spot as the NFL's biggest early-season surprise," wrote Breer.
CBS Sports' John Breech hands out grades to every team for their performance each week. In Week 5, the Giants were the only team in the league to receive an A+.
"The Giants defense held the Packers scoreless over the game's final two quarters and continually frustrated Aaron Rodgers, who threw for only 76 yards in the second half," said Breech. "The defense only sacked Rodgers twice, but both sacks were big. The first one came from Dexter Lawrence on third down and ended a Packers drive in the third quarter. The second one, which came from Oshane Ximines, prevented Rodgers from throwing a Hail Mary on the final play of the game. The defense's ability to make big play after big play was a big reason why New York was able to stun the Packers."
Many analysts and media outlets also took to Twitter to praise Daboll and the Giants for their impressive Week 5 victory.
Check out some of Twitter's best expert takeaways from yesterday's win below.
