The New York Giants bid adieu to their primetime curse on Monday night, defeating the Green Bay Packers, 24-22, on a walk-off field goal as time expired.
The 37-yard Randy Bullock boot game after rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito orchestrated an eight-play, 57-yard drive with just 1:33 remaining.
The Packers had regained the lead after picking up a rare Saquon Barkley fumble and then punching the ball in on a short Jordan Love pass, but the Giants never wavered. They followed the lead of their quarterback, who was calm, cool, and collected in the biggest moment of his life.
“Just go win the football game,” DeVito said of his thinking as he took the field on that final drive. “Go execute a drive that we practice every day before practice, which is a two-minute drive. We do it every day, different situations. With all the practice, we have that exact situation or something very similar to it, so just go out, execute the offense and go win the game.”
Head coach Brian Daboll had a simple message for the rookie after Green Bay took the lead: Go “rip that son of a (expletive).”
As swag as ever, DeVito took that message and then delivered one of his own in the huddle.
“Let’s go win the game,” DeVito recalled telling his teammates. “It’s on us, on the offense.”
Message received. Loud and clear.
“I think the biggest thing in that situation is just stay calm, don’t force anything, two of those throws were check downs, one was a big throw to Wan’Dale (Robinson). I forgot the other one,” Barkley said. “I think three of those were just reading the defense, taking what they give you, snap it and keep going.
“That’s rare for a rookie quarterback, but with the confidence and swagger he plays with, you could feel it through the stadium, you could feel it on the sideline, and happy we were able to get the win today.”
Barkley admits he couldn’t watch the game-winning field goal, instead opting to bow his head and pray.
“Whatever he wants man, whatever he wants. Tell him to hit me up, whatever he needs,” Barkley said of Bullock. “We can go to Carbone, whatever he wants, any restaurant in New York he wants, let me know.”
But the Giants never get in position for that field goal without DeVito.
“Composed, relentless, I mean everything that you want out of your quarterback. We go through those situations every single day, having a two-minute situation at the end of the game and it just goes to show how much work he puts in to make sure that we’re going out there and getting the W,” wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson said.
Like many on the team, Robinson gets a kick out of DeVito’s over-the-top Italian personality but when it comes time to play, the rookie transforms into someone different.
“He’s all laugh and joking whatever in the locker room, but whenever we get out there on the field it’s like he’s a stone-cold killer,” Robinson said. “I feel like that’s what you want out of your quarterback. I mean he’s laser focus and just letting everybody know this was going to be ours.”
DeVito’s swag isn’t just felt among the offensive players, it’s also felt among the defensive players. It resonates throughout the entire locker room.
“Football, it’s any given Sunday,” linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux said. “So, you put any guy that’s capable in the position to play and that’s going to be on them to step into that moment and he’s been stepping into the moment tremendously. I’m happy for him, I’m happy for his family and I just hope he continues to stay on this hot streak.”
The bottom line: The team is having fun again. And they all want whatever it is that fuels DeVito, which is apparently a chicken cutlet parm with vodka sauce.
“Whatever it is, it’s fun. It’s fun to be part of and it’s fun to watch. It’s fun to be a part of this team,” wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins said. “I’m still waiting for my little vodka sandwich that he got.
“It’s just amazing to be a part of, man. Seeing his growth, seeing his composure for a free agent rookie. . . He’s out here possibly leading us back this year. I’m happy for him.”
The DeVito fun continues next Sunday at the Caesars Superdome against the New Orleans Saints in what’s become somewhat of a must-win game.
