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Inside the Numbers

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Brian Daboll wins playoff debut; joins Dan Reeves, Bill Parcells

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MINNEAPOLIS – Notes and statistics from the Giants' 31-24 NFC Wild Card victory against the Minnesota Vikings in U.S. Bank Stadium:

*Playing their first postseason game since 2016, the Giants won their first playoff game since defeating New England, 17-14, in Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5, 2012.

*The Giants advanced to a divisional round game at Philadelphia on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. The Eagles twice defeated the Giants in the regular season, including 22-16 in the finale one week ago in Lincoln Financial Field.

*This was the Giants' first victory this season against a team in the NFC playoff field; they had been 0-6 vs. Dallas, Philadelphia, Seattle and Minnesota.

*The Giants' postseason record improved to 25-25, including 21-12 in the Super Bowl era. They are 9-15 on the road, including 8-8 in the Super Bowl era.

*The Giants improved to 7-5 in wild card games, including 4-3 on the road.

*The Giants are 3-1 in the postseason vs. Minnesota, including 2-1 in wild card games. The previous three games were played in Giants Stadium.

*The Giants' 31 points are their second-highest total of the season and the second time they exceeded 30 points. They defeated Indianapolis on New Year's Day, 38-10.

*This is the Giants' highest-scoring postseason game in exactly 11 years. On Jan. 15, 2012, they defeated the Packers in Green Bay, 37-20, in a divisional playoff game.

*The Giants totaled 431 offense yards, a figure they exceeded just twice in the regular season - 445 against the Vikings here on Dec. 24 and 436 yards at Jacksonville on Oct. 23.

*It is the fourth-highest postseason total in Giants history. They gained 518 yards vs. the Vikings in the 2000 NFC Championship Game, 446 at San Francisco on Jan. 5, 2003, and 442 vs. Atlanta on Jan. 8, 2012, in their most recent home playoff game.

*The Giants' 28 first downs is the second-most they've had in a postseason game; they had 31 first downs when they crushed the Vikings in the 2000 conference title game, 41-0.

*The Giants' 289 net passing yards rank fourth among their postseason totals, behind 380 vs. Minnesota on Jan. 14, 2001, 327 vs. San Francisco on Jan. 5, 2003, and 325 at Green Bay on Jan. 15, 2013.

*The Vikings rushed for only 61 yards, the lowest total allowed by the Giants since they held the Carolina Panthers to 56 yards on Oct. 24, 2021. The previous low total this season was 83 yards – by the Vikings three weeks ago.

*Neither team committed a turnover, the first time that happened in a Giants game since their 27-22 victory against the Packers in London on Oct. 9.

*This is the second consecutive game, and the eighth time in 18 games, the Giants did not commit an offensive turnover.

*The Giants also did not sack Kirk Cousins. This is the third game this season in which they had neither a sack nor a takeaway. They lost the two regular-season games, vs. Dallas and Detroit.

*The Vikings took a 7-0 lead when Cousins scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak 6:37 into the game. They are the fourth opponent in 18 games to score a first-possession touchdown against the Giants, joining Tennessee (Sept. 11), Jacksonville (Oct.23) and Philadelphia (Dec. 11). The Giants are 3-1 in those games.

*The Giants immediately countered with their own 75-yard drive, which ended on the fifth play when Saquon Barkley ran through the left side for a 28-yard touchdown. It is the third game this season in which the Giants scored on their first offensive series. They also did it at Jacksonville and vs. Houston on Nov. 13.

*This is the second time in the 2022 season both the Giants and their opponents reached the end zone on their opening drive; the other was the Giants' victory at Jacksonville on Oct.23.

*The Giants also scored points on their second possession when Daniel Jones threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Hodgins. The Giants drove 81 yards in just four plays, including a 47-yard catch and run by Darius Slayton. This is the first game in which the Giants scored touchdowns on each of their first two offensive series since Nov. 15, 2020, when Jones (34 yards) and Wayne Gallman (two yards) each ran for scores in a home victory against Philadelphia.

*On their third possession, the Giants drove 85 yards in 19 plays and 10:52 before increasing their lead to 17-7 on Graham Gano's 25-yard field goal. It is their longest scoring drive since Nov. 30, 2014, at Jacksonville, where Rashad Jennings scored on a two-yard run on the 19th play. The previous time the Giants scored while holding the ball for at least 10:52 was at Phoenix on Nov. 10, 1991, when a possession that took 11:14 off the clock ended with Jeff Hostetler's four-yard touchdown run.

*The Giants had a 19-play possession against Pittsburgh on Sept. 1, 2020, and a series that was 11:21 long vs. the Jets on Dec. 6, 2015 – but both of those series ended with an interception.

View photos from the Giants' 31-24 Wild Card victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

*Jones completed 24 of 35 passes for 301 yards with touchdowns to Isaiah Hodgins and Daniel Bellinger and no interceptions for a passer rating of 114.1. He also led the Giants with 78 rushing yards on 17 carries.

*Jones is the fifth quarterback in the Super Bowl era with 200+ pass yards, 2+ touchdown passes and 70+ rushing yards in a playoff game. The others are Josh Allen (2020), Colin Kaepernick (2012), Donovan McNabb (2003) and Steve Young (1992).

*Jones had the fifth 300-yard passing game in the postseason by a Giants quarterback. Kerry Collins and Eli Manning each had two.

*Jones broke an 88-year-old record for the most rushing yards by a Giants quarterback in a playoff game. Ed Danowski set the previous record of 59 yards in the NFL Championship Game victory against the Chicago Bears on Dec. 9, 1934.

*Barkley rushed for 53 yards on nine carries, including touchdowns of 28 and the game-winning two-yarder with 7:47 remaining. He is the first Giants back with two rushing touchdowns in a postseason game since Rodney Hampton scored twice on Jan. 9, 1994 – also against Minnesota.

*Barkley's 28-yard score is the Giants' longest postseason touchdown run since Hampton's 51-yarder in that game 29 years ago.

*Hodgins led the Giants with eight receptions – matching his total from the regular-season game in Minnesota – for a career-high 109 yards.

*Barkley added five catches for 52 yards, while Darius Slayton and Richie James had four receptions apiece. Slayton had a game-long 47-yarder.

*The Giants again rotated Nick Gates and Ben Bredeson at left guard. Gates started and played two series before he was relieved by Bredeson.

*Adoree' Jackson started at cornerback after missing the final seven games of the regular season with a knee injury. Jackson followed Justin Jefferson throughout the game and helped hold the NFL's leading receiver to 47 yards on seven receptions. Jefferson caught 12 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown in the first game the two teams played when the Giants were without Xavier McKinney and Jackson.

*McKinney led the Giants with eight tackles (four solo). Jaylon Smith and Jackson each had seven stops (six solo).

*Linebacker Azeez Ojulari (quad) and safety Jason Pinnock (abdomen) left the game with injuries.

*Brian Daboll is the first Giants coach to win his postseason debut since Dan Reeves in 1993. The other Giants coaches to win their first playoff games are Jim Lee Howell in 1956, Ray Perkins in 1981 and Bill Parcells in 1984.

*Daboll is the only one of the three rookie coaches in the postseason to win his debut – of course, he beat one of the other first-year coaches, Minnesota's Kevin O'Connell. Miami's Mike McDaniel lost (to Buffalo).

*The following Giants made their NFL postseason debuts: Jones, Barkley, Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams, Ojulari, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Julian Love, McKinney, Darnay Holmes, Slayton, Hodgins, Bellinger, Kenny Golladay, Andrew Thomas, Evan Neal, Gates, Bredeson, Matt Peart, Marcus Johnson, Lawrence Cager, Gary Brightwell, Oshane Ximines, Jarrad Davis, Nick McCloud, Pinnock, Cor'Dale Flott, Ryder Anderson, Tomon Fox, Carter Coughlin, Cam Brown, Dane Belton and Casey Kreiter.

*The Giants' game captains were Jones, Barkley and Lawrence.

*Referee Adrian Hill was also the referee for the teams' regular-season game here on Dec. 24.

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