Flawless Daniel Jones and Giants Offense Lead Big Blue Past the Vikings

In what was a somewhat predictable upset, the Giants knocked off the Vikings with a nearly flawless offensive performance. Led by an exacting gameplan and a quarterback in Daniel Jones who was locked in, New York was able to do whatever it wanted for 4 quarters.

Giants Stretched the Vikings Defense Horizontally

Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka’s plan from the start was to target Minnesota’s lack of discipline at the second level. They attacked this area of the defense relentlessly, as more than 75% of Jones’ passes were thrown within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, well above his season average.

The primary way they attacked was with a combination of motion and misdirection to influence Vikings linebackers and stretch the defense horizontally. You could see this in action right from the opening drive:

Receivers are not supposed to be that wide open. But the motion across the formation forced the Vikings to adjust on the fly, leading to a miscommunication and a busted coverage. You could even see linebacker Eric Kendricks (#54) and cornerback Chandon Sullivan (#39) talking after the play about the miscommunciation.

The Giants used these tactics in the running game as well. On their first touchdown, they used motion and fake-jet-sweep action to change the strength of the formation, forcing Vikings defenders to adjust on the fly and flow to their left. Then they ran it in the oppostite direction:

Even designed runs for Daniel Jones worked these elements into the play: