The New York Giants surprised the football world with a 45-33 upset victory over the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium on Sunday by doing some very un-Giant-like things.
One of those things was returning a kickoff for a touchdown.
Wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette took the second-half kickoff 100 yards for a score to give the Giants a 28-13 lead.
Ihmir Smith-Marsette takes it to the house to open up the second halfpic.twitter.com/aj1klTwMDe
— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) December 29, 2024
Here’s a few quick notes about the play:
- It was the 24th kickoff return for a touchdown in the Giants’ 100-season history, including two in the postseason.
- It was the Giants’ first kickoff return for a touchdown since Oct. 25, 2015 — 155 games ago. Dwayne Harris scored on a 100-yard runback vs. Dallas.
“Somebody told me it was the first one since 2015,” Smith-Marsette said after the game. “Nine years, that’s a pretty long time. I’m happy. Hopefully, I can do it again sometime.”
“What a great return to start out in the second half,” said head coach Brian Daboll. “I don’t think he was touched, great blocking. That’s what it needs to look like, though.”
The 100-yard runback tied the franchise record for longest kickoff return for a touchdown with Harris’ and two others — Clarence Childs versus Minnesota in 1964 and Emlen Tunnell against the New York Yanks in 1951.
According to the FOX broadcast, it was the first time the Giants returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown since Jack Salscheider did it on Oct. 30, 1949.
Salscheider, a halfback who played just one season for the Giants, took the second-half kickoff 95 yards to the house in the Giants’ 41-38 victory over the Chicago Cardinals at Comiskey Park.
