The Giants had lost, the first drink of the day hadn't even been opened, the bean dip was still wrapped, the bag of Fritos was still sealed, and it hadn't even been 15 minutes. You might have thought about watching another game on TV, a Liberty vs. Dream playoff game, or the Braves vs. Marlins game on MLB Network.
On the opening kickoff, Eric Gray of the Giants fumbled the ball. On the Browns' first play from scrimmage, Deshaun Watson connected with Amari Cooper for a 24-yard touchdown. On the Giants' fifth play from scrimmage, Daniel Jones again threw the ball to Cleveland's Ronnie Hickman at the Giants' 24-yard line.
“Hey, look! AMC is having a Matrix marathon! I'm in!”
And then a funny thing happened.
The flags were up on the field. The screaming crowd of 68,616 at Cleveland's Huntington Bank Field went silent. Greg Newsome's hand touched Daniel Jones' helmet. In 1964, the noise might have risen to epic levels.
In 2024, it will be 15 yards.
And in that moment, not only did the football game flip, but it changed the way the Giants were viewed. The Giants scored a touchdown 7 1/2 minutes later, on a forced pass from 1 yard out by Devin Singletary, and Jones connected with rookie phenom Malik Neighbors for a 21-7 lead before halftime.
They hung in there and won 21-15. They had some scary moments along the way, but none of it mattered when they left the field.
“We showed some resilience,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said, “especially at the start of the game, but our guys kept battling and kept fighting. I'm proud of them.”
Suddenly, they were no longer social media punching bags (even if they were giving most fans acid until the final minutes of the fourth quarter).
If the first few minutes spawned a #LOLGiants meme, it was quickly removed. What followed in the final 54 minutes and 51 seconds was one of the most powerful blows you can ever deliver on a football field, especially an away field. Forget the score, remember what you saw. Remember what you saw.
“When you get going, you just keep it going,” said Dexter Lawrence, who was red hot all day and had two of the Giants' eight sacks and one of their five tackles for loss. “You just have to stay focused. You just have to keep going and stay focused.”
He was looking to win. This was the first one. More wins would come if he continued to pitch more complete games like Sunday's. It was a win that seemed natural and even logical after the way he'd lost his first two games. Not only had he left Watson feeling extremely helpless, but he'd also made him look terrified, not knowing where the next hit was coming from.
Jones? Well, he got away with an interception earlier. He got away with another interception later when Neighbors made an incredible catch for his first touchdown, but he also played two straight games well: 24-of-34, two touchdowns, no interceptions, 109.4 rating.
And, of course, Neighbors shook off last week's big drop with eight catches (on 12 targets), exuding Odell-like vibes with each catch and hinting that he might have something more to offer.
“When you have a guy like him, it doesn't matter the opponent. You throw him the ball and he's going to take it,” Daboll said.
What we know so far is that Daboll did nothing wrong.
“We made it hard for them,” Jones said. “I thought we played very well today.”
Daboll: “Our guys are already confident, but it's good to see the results.”
On a sunny afternoon just off Lake Erie, the Giants carried them to victory, and the cheers of hope at 1:15 turned into a never-ending storm of boos by 4 and throughout the rest of the game. Watson, already in a bind, was now crackling at about 212 degrees Fahrenheit. The Giants dominated the line of scrimmage, on both sides of the ball.
If Cedric Tillman couldn't fully exhale until he dropped one of the few accurate strikes Watson threw that day, one that hit between the “1” and “9” on his jersey but bounced harmlessly off … well, that's life in the NFL every week.
Believe what you see. Believe what you watch. And above all, believe that there's still plenty of football season left for teams for whom this suddenly seems like a blessing rather than a punishment.
