The New York Giants' remarkable start to the season continued across the pond in Week 5, upsetting the Green Bay Packers in London, 27-22, to move to 4-1 on the year. Brian Daboll's team found itself trailing by double digits heading into the locker room at halftime, but rattled off 17 points in the second half -- including 14 in the fourth quarter -- to mount the comeback. They also held Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense to zero points over that stretch.
It was a stellar effort by Daniel Jones, who battled through an ankle injury he suffered last week to play in this game. He completed 21 of 27 for 217 yards and added 37 yards on the ground. He was the catalyst during a 15-play drive that traveled 91 yards that helped New York draw even with the Packers at 20 in the early stages of the fourth quarter. Then, Saquon Barkley -- who briefly left this game due to a shoulder injury -- surged back onto the field and gave the Giants the go-ahead touchdown on a goal-line run at the 6:08 mark in the fourth.
Of course, Aaron Rodgers didn't go quietly into the night as he brought the Packers all the way to the Giants' 6-yard line with an opportunity to tie the game at 27 with a minute to play. However, New York's defense stepped up in a major way and batted two consecutive passes from the back-to-back MVP, including on a fourth-and-2 play that essentially clinched the game.
Rodgers finished with 222 yards and two touchdowns on 25 of 39 passing. Aaron Jones rushed for 63 yards on 13 carries, while Randall Cobb led all pass catchers with 99 yards receiving on seven catches. As for the Giants, Barkley had 106 yards from scrimmage and that go-ahead touchdown. Darius Slayton hauled in six of his seven targets for 79 yards in the win.
For a more in-depth breakdown of how this game unfolded, check out our takeaways below.
Why the Giants won
There seems to be 100% buy-in on the Brian Daboll system. The offensive play-calling was top notch for New York throughout the day, particularly after the first quarter. The Giants were initially plagued by some ineffective third-down passes to Saquon Barkley at or around the LOS, which had them 0-3 to begin the day on the critical down and settling for only three points to begin the day through three drives. Then, Daniel Jones started pushing the ball down the field under that circumstance and the Giants found greater success and were able to move the chains. After going 0 for 3 on third downs to begin the game, New York finished going 6 for 8 on third down.
Daboll also was willing to empty his bag of tricks in this game, putting Barkley in the wildcat to run read-option plays (likely due to Jones' injured ankle) and even had their own version of a "Philly Special," which resulted in a Daniel Bellinger rushing touchdown before the break. While New York may have wanted to limit Jones' rushing attempts at points in this game, Daboll also knew when to call his number, calling a draw on third-and-4 in the second half to extend what would prove to be a field goal drive.
On the defensive side of the ball, Wink Martindale gave Aaron Rodgers fits throughout the game, disguising pressure and even was able to apply it while only sending four rushers. He was sacked twice on the day and hit six times total. That pressure did force Rodgers to get the ball out of his quickly at times throughout the contest, and even if he was able to get the ball into the hands of one of his skill position players, they were gobbled up quickly by New York.
Why the Packers lost
The offense is still a work in progress for Green Bay, but there were also some head-scratching play calls on that side of the ball as well. As the offense was shut out in the second half, Matt LaFleur's play-calling didn't do his team many favors, especially at key points in the game. After the Giants tied the game at 20, the Packers went three-and-out and gained zero yards on their next possession. Two of those incompletions by Rodgers were what felt like unnecessary deep shots to Allen Lazard. Aaron Jones nor A.J. Dillon touched the ball on that drive.
Later, the Packers had the ball at New York's 6-yard line and 1:11 left on the clock with two timeouts in their pocket. Instead of running on the third-and-1 situation to give themselves a fresh set of downs to try and tie the game at 27, Rodgers dropped back to pass twice and both of his throws were batted down at the line and New York took over on downs.
There was also one critical unnecessary roughness penalty called on cornerback Rasul Douglas after he threw Darius Slayton on the ground after the whistle. Had he kept his composure, the Giants were facing a third-down situation. Instead, they got a fresh set of downs and Barkley scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.
Turning point
The momentum really shifted in favor of the Giants during their 91-yard drive at the end of the third quarter to knot the game at 20 apiece. With Saquon Barkley momentarily sidelined for this drive due to a shoulder injury, Daniel Jones put together arguably the best drive of his tenure in New York. He was 7-of-8 passing for 55 yards and rushed for 25 more yards to push the Giants down the field, and was doing so with a bloodied right hand on top of the ankle injury he suffered last week.
Right after that scoring drive, the Giants defense forced the Packers into a three-and-out and the offense immediately picked up where they left off and went on another touchdown drive. This time around, Saquon Barkley -- who returned to action -- was the key cog, ripping off a 41-yard catch and run and eventually rushing for the go-ahead touchdown.
Play of the game
It looked like Aaron Rodgers was going to pull another rabbit out of his hat after the Giants took the 27-20 lead late in the fourth quarter. With 6:08 on the clock, he led the Packers on a 69-yard drive that took the offense all the way to the Giants' 6-yard line and it seemed like they were destined to punch it in for the game-tying touchdown and possibly head to overtime.
After Aaron Jones ran it up the middle for a two-yard gain, the Packers were situated with a third-and-1 play. Rodgers then proceeded to pass it on back-to-back plays, which were both batted down by the Giants, specifically Kayvon Thibodeaux and then Xavier McKinney.
That turned the ball over on downs and basically left the Giants to merely run out the clock. The defense even came up clutch later on when the ball got back to the Packers for the final seconds and prevented Rodgers from chucking a Hail Mary to possibly win it.
What's next
From here, both of these teams will head back to the States. New York will await the Baltimore Ravens for a Week 6 matchup at MetLife Stadium. Meanwhile, the Packers will head back to Lambeau Field and gear up for a home matchup with the New York Jets.