JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Call them Daboll’s Dawgs.
Brian Daboll’s weekly underdog Giants solidified a winning identity Sunday with their fourth consecutive comeback victory, 23-17, over the Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Bank Field.
It went down to the last yard in the game’s final second. Fabian Moreau, Xavier McKinney and Julian Love tackled Jaguars receiver Christian Kirk at the 1-yard line after a last-ditch Trevor Lawrence completion.
Jacksonville (2-5), which lost its fourth straight, saw the clock wind to zeroes with no timeouts.
Daniel Jones’ first career 100-yard rushing game, two defensive turnovers in the red zone, and a late surge from Saquon Barkley lifted the Giants (6-1). They overcame a second-half deficit for the fifth time in their six wins.
Jacksonville moved the ball, but the Giants forced two turnovers at their own 5-yard and 21-yard lines (one by fumble, one on downs) to keep the Jags’ scoring down.
The Jaguars had the ball with a chance to win on the game’s final drive. A series of Giants miscues gave them extra chances, including Barkley stopping the clock by stepping out of bounds on the preceding possession, an Adoree Jackson holding penalty, a Dane Belton illegal hands to the face, a fourth down Jags conversion and a Dexter Lawrence roughing the passer.
But the Giants held on.
The Giants turned the game with 11:25 to play in the fourth quarter, down 17-14, on a fourth down defensive stop of a Lawrence QB sneak at the Giants’ 21-yard line. Jaylon Smith and Love were credited with the stop, following up Quincy Roche’s tackle of Travis Etienne on third down.
Jones then capitalized with a 10-play, 79-yard TD drive. He barreled into the end zone for the Giants’ first points of the half with a 1-yard TD run at 5:31 of the fourth quarter for a 20-17 lead. Graham Gano added a field goal on the next possession that tipped off a Jaguars defender before fluttering through.
The Jaguars had quickly erased a 13-11 Giants halftime lead on a 7-play, 73-yard TD drive to open the third quarter.
Etienne juked McKinney and sped up the left sideline for a 49-yard run, chased down by rookie edge Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Then Lawrence finished the drive with a leaping 1-yard TD run for a 17-13 lead with 11:45 left in the third quarter.
Giants CB Nick McCloud blocked the extra point, offsetting a first-quarter Jags two-point conversion.
Jones and the Giants almost answered immediately. A Devin Lloyd interception of Jones in the red zone was negated by a roughing the passer call against Jags LB Foye Oluokun, who led with his helmet into Jones’ chin.
But Daboll went for it on 4th and 2 from the 3½-yard line, and receiver Marcus Johnson dropped a pass underneath for a turnover on downs.
After a defensive stop forced the Jags’ first punt of the day, tight end Tanner Hudson then dropped a 3rd down pass around midfield, which Doug Pederson correctly challenged and forced a Giant punt back to the home team late in the third quarter.
The Giants took a lead into halftime for the second time this season, 13-11, on a 32-yard Darius Slayton TD catch and two Gano field goals.
McKinney made the play of the half with 3:26 to play in the second quarter: a forced fumble on Etienne at the Giants’ 5-yard line with Jacksonville up, 11-10.
Love recovered the bouncing ball in the end zone for a touchback, and Jones drove the Giants 65 yards in 12 plays for Gano’s second field goal and the halftime lead.
The Jaguars offense gained 246 yards and didn’t punt in the first half, but Jones was excellent early for the Giants, completing 15 of 22 passes for 168 yards and a TD in the first half, and adding four carries for 37 yards on the ground.
Barkley managed only 18 rushing yards on nine carries in the first half. So the Giants needed their QB to carry them.
Jones engineered an impressive, 75-yard game-opening TD drive, capped by Slayton’s 32-yard TD catch up the right side of the end zone.
Jones completed 6-of-7 passes for 65 yards and rushed one time for 14 on the drive. That snapped the Giants’ NFL worst 14-game drought without an opening drive TD going back to last year.
The Jaguars answered emphatically, however, averaging 11.7 yards per play on a six-play, 70-yard drive that Etienne finished with a 7-yard run. Pederson all tacked on an Etienne 1-yard run for the two-point conversion after a Giants illegal formation penalty.
