NFL Week 10: Twitter reacts to Daniel Jones' touchdown run
The NFC East has been a blood bath in 2020, so bad that you can't look away. Early in the New York Giants' Week 10 matchup against the division-leading (despite being just 3-4-1 going into the game) Philadelphia Eagles, things appeared to be no different.
On the first drive of the game, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones took a snap in the shotgun, faked a handoff, and ran out to his left. Stopping to stutter-step and wait for a block at the line of scrimmage, the second-year QB broke for the goal line. With four Eagles defensive backs in tow, Jones won the foot race by three strides, strutting into the Giants end zone for a 34-yard touchdown.
NFL Week 10: Daniel Jones stays on his feet this time
The opening touchdown on Sunday had a bit of extra meaning, aside from putting the Giants ahead in a key divisional matchup.
A few weeks ago, also against the Eagles, Daniel Jones ripped off a similar run that was heading for a touchdown. Jones' foot, however, got caught on the turf and he fell to the ground — and Twitter had a field day.
Daniel Jones tried to explain his Week 7 tumble to Newsday following the Eagles 22-21 win over Jones' Giants:
“I was just trying to run faster than I was running and got caught up,” Jones demurred. He hit 21.23 miles per hour on the dash, according to the broadcast, which is the fastest speed registered by a quarterback this season. Jones and the rest of the team were able to laugh that off only after Gallman leaped into the end zone to give the Giants a 14-10 lead four plays after the flop. “That was a relief,” Jones said.
The play even had Jones' own teammates laughing at him falling to the turf. But not this week. Instead, Daniel Jones stayed upright and his burst of speed brought the Giants ahead by six. The Giants led 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Despite the Giants' criticism for drafting Daniel Jones at No. 6 overall and entrusting him with their rebuilding offense in 2019 and 2020, his ground game has actually been a strength.
In 2020, Jones has rushed for the third-most yards amongst quarterbacks, behind only former Heisman winners Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray. His team-leading 320 rushing yards (coming into Week 10) are ahead of Cam Newton and MVP contenders Russell Wilson and Josh Allen.