Daniel Jones By the Numbers

In Daniel Jones’ first career start Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he did one thing that Giants fans have admired about Eli Manning for years – he stayed calm under pressure.

Trailing by 18 points heading into the second half, Jones completed 23 of 36 passes for 336 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for a pair of seven-yard touchdowns, including the game-winner. He also led the team with 28 rushing yards on his four attempts, his performance earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Jones’ first career touchdown pass was a 75-yarder to tight end Evan Engram. It was the longest first touchdown pass by a Giants quarterback since Jeff Hostetler completed an 85-yard pass to Stephen Baker at New Orleans on Nov. 26, 1988.

There are only five other games in Giants history when New York overcame a deficit of 18 points or more to win. The last time it happened was when the Giants hosted the Washington Redskins on Nov. 15, 1970 at Yankee Stadium. New York scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to overcome a 19-point deficit.

The victory Sunday over the Buccaneers was also only the second in Giants history in which they overcame a halftime deficit of at least 18 points. Before Sunday, the Giants had lost 138 consecutive games in which they were losing by at least 18 points.

Jones overcame that deficit with numbers that broke the record books. He became the first NFL quarterback to throw for 336 yards in his debut since Green Bay’s Scott Tolzien threw for 339 yards on Nov. 17, 2013. 

Jones was also the first Giants quarterback other than Manning to throw for at least 300 yards since Nov. 2, 2003, when Kerry Collins threw for 303 yards against the Jets.

With his two rushing touchdowns Sunday, Jones became the first Giants quarterback to rush for two touchdowns in a game since Hostetler on Nov. 10, 1991, and the first Giants player to run for two touchdowns in a game since Saquon Barkley did it on Nov. 18, 2018 against Tampa Bay.

Jones became the first Giants quarterback with two passing and two rushing touchdowns in a game since Charlie Conley achieved the same feat on Nov. 28, 1948 against the Boston Yankees. 

Jones is only the second quarterback since the 1970 merger to throw for at least 300 yards and two touchdowns. The first was Detroit’s Eric Hipple who did it against the Chicago Bears on Oct. 19, 1981.

A victory Sunday against Washington at home will make Jones the first Giants rookie quarterback to win his first two starts since Phil Simms in 1979.