New York Giants Week 17: By the Numbers
Postgame Analysis - January 3rd, 2023
For the first time in six seasons, a period that sometimes felt much longer than that, a January game at MetLife Stadium would not end in the sorrows of another lost season. Nor would one find fans adorned with masquerading paper bags over their heads, letting out groans deathly audible from the top decks.
On New Year’s Day 2023, with a packed house in East Rutherford reminiscent of the 2011 Wild Card game when New York would begin the improbable, the exact opposite happened. With the opportunity placed right in front of them, the Giants would spark a moment years ahead of their time by putting on a dominant 38-10 thrashing on the Indianapolis Colts and clinching their first postseason berth since 2016.
In a season where there were competing prognostications about how low the franchise would go in year one of a long, arduous rebuild, the Giants showed the world they could fix the team and compete simultaneously. Despite countless obstacles, including injuries and a ridden salary cap situation, the new brass made do with a roster full of practice squad players. It helped them compete for a spot in the league’s ultimate dance.
It’s finally that time, the New York Giants have returned to the postseason after a half-decade of miserable mediocrity. There’s certainly credit to be passed out to all but nobody more than quarterback Daniel Jones.
One of my favorite installments of my second 2022 regular season-long assignment where I broke down the top players and numbers that defined the New York Giants’ win or loss on Sunday. This one was the pinnacle as the Giants sealed their first postseason berth since 2016 in a season where the expectations never had them coming close to that stage.