MINNEAPOLIS — It is comforting and thrilling for the Giants to consider how this all started: Brian Daboll — in his NFL head-coaching debut, Week 1 at Tennessee — saying to hell with pulling even, rolling the dice on the 2-point conversion and Daniel Jones finding Saquon Barkley on a shovel pass to put the Giants ahead, 21-20.
It is less comforting and more sobering to recall how the Giants actually claimed their first 2022 prize: They were allowed to exhale only after Randy Bullock was wide left on a last-second, 47-yard field goal attempt.
It is 127 days later that the Giants take the field Sunday for their playoff game with the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. So much has transpired between their opening act to what they hope will not be their closing act. Highlights. Lowlights. Boldness. Good fortune.
There was great anticipation that the arrival of Daboll and Joe Schoen — the new general manager who endorsed Daboll — would eventually restore the franchise to its past glory. Accent on eventually. That the Giants finished 9-7-1 and made it into the postseason for the first time since 2016 — and for just the second time in a decade — is a feat beyond the reasonable expectation of ownership and, if we are being totally transparent, Schoen and Daboll.
“I just believe in us,’’ said safety Julian Love, one of many returning players to have a career-best season. “When you look at the season, it’s been — it hasn’t been perfect, but it’s been a lot of fun because we’ve won a lot of close games and we’ve done a lot of key things in critical situations.
“Once you’re in the playoffs, the attention to detail heightens, and when we’re on our details, this team, the sky’s the limit.’’
Is it? Is the sky the limit with this team? There was no real sense before the Giants’ Super Bowl runs after the 2007 and 2011 seasons that anything special was brewing. There is no real sense of that now, as well. Of course, there was no real sense the Giants would still be playing in mid-January.
Daboll’s impressive ability to stay consistent no matter what came his way trickled down to his team. This was a remarkably professional bunch. There is no shortage of confidence within players who on Christmas Eve battled to the wire with the Vikings before losing, 27-24, on a buzzer-beating, 61-yard field goal by Greg Joseph — spoiling a Jones-inspired comeback drive capped by Barkley’s 27-yard touchdown burst.
The 13-4 Vikings are rightfully the favorite in this game. They were 8-1 at home inside the fast-track dome that allowed Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson to play catch with lethal precision and more productivity than any other quarterback-wide receiver combination. Their defense is entirely suspect — 28th in scoring (25.1 points a game allowed) and 31st in yards allowed (388.7 per game). The Giants three weeks ago amassed a season-high 445 yards on this defense, with Jones throwing for a cool 334 yards.
Familiarity is a wonderful thing, and the Giants have it, returning so soon to the Vikings’ venue, but it will be foolhardy for them to anticipate what comes next as a continuation of the last-second loss. The festive holiday atmosphere from three weeks ago is sure to be replaced with a more hostile, and perhaps tension-filled playoff vibe.
“I was surprised actually, I thought it would be a lot louder,’’ left guard Nick Gates said of the first tango with the Vikings.
This was not an opinion shared by Jon Feliciano, who as the starting center is assigned to make the line calls amid the tumult.
“When we adjust, we got to adjust quicker, and unlike what Nick Gates said, they definitely were loud and messed up a couple of our protections,’’ Feliciano said, adding, “It’s actually funner when you’re in that, hectic and loud.’’
How much fun the Giants enjoy will be directly tied to how they handle their business with a roster containing so many key players with no previous playoff experience. The back end of their defense will have cornerback Adoree’ Jackson and safety Xavier McKinney, players who were not available the last time the Giants faced the Vikings.
“I think we’re definitely not satisfied just to have made the playoffs,’’ Jones said. “That’s not how we see it as a group. We were confident in our team dating back to training camp and knew what we were able to accomplish. We’re by no means satisfied just to be in the playoffs. We expect to play well and to win.’’