Win over Cardinals proves Giants offense is built through Daniel Jones, not Saquon Barkley

Daniel Jones saved the Giants season on Sunday afternoon. 

Despite trailing 20-0 to the woeful Josh Dobbs-led Arizona Cardinals at halftime, Jones railed the troops, leading the Giants to a triumphant 31-28 victory that they certainly needed. Big Blue's next four games at San Francisco on Thursday, home vs. Seattle, then at Miami and Buffalo are all tough challenges, which made it imperative they added to the win column.

New York put the ball in Jones' hands to get the victory in Arizona, and he delivered, leading multiple lengthy drives in the second half, including one that was capped off with a touchdown pass to Saquon Barkley.

The Giants later tied the game at 28-28 on a Jones touchdown pass to Isaiah Hodgins after a 64-yard march in which Jones accounted for 59 of the team's yards. On the final offensive drive of the game, New York mostly kept the ball on the ground to chew the clock, but Jones made a clutch 18-yard throw to Darius Slayton to put them in Graham Gano's field goal range.

Jones was otherworldly in the second half, and it's clear the Giants had a shift in philosophy. Jones is the leader and focal point of the offense, not Barkley. That is not a knock on Barkley; it just speaks to how much trust the team has in Jones.

All Super Bowl-caliber teams are built around their quarterback, and the Giants have finally adopted that same thinking. On the the team's first three offensive plays, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka called three passing plays. Meanwhile, star left tackle Andrew Thomas missed the game due to injury, and the G-Men started two linemen -- Josh Ezeudu at left tackle and Marcus McKethan at right guard -- who had never taken a snap at their position before Sunday.

It speaks volumes about how much the coaching staff trusts Jones that they opened the game with the air attack despite the young offensive line. Daboll and Kafka trust Jones to deliver no matter the circumstances.

Pro Football Focus (PFF) gave Jones a 92.5 overall grade (out of 100) for his play, with anything between 90-100 on PFF's scale considered to be "elite." Jones' grade was tied with Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill for the best in the NFL on Sunday.

Jones also received a 90.1 running grade, tied with Dobbs for the best among NFL quarterbacks, and an 86.1 passing grade, second in the NFL.

Darren Waller aided Jones' excellence. The QB looked very comfortable throwing to Waller, who hauled in six passes for 76 yards. Waller provided a security blanket for Jones, who targeted the tight end whenever he needed to extend drives. Four of Waller's six catches were first downs.

The Giants offense was built around Barkley in 2022, primarily due to the lack of weapons on the outside. They had success with Barkley as the focal point, but the offensive ceiling of run-first teams is relatively low. Barkley was dominant during the 7-2 start, but as the season progressed, he wore down as the defense started to stack the box against him.

One of the main problems with an offense built around Barkley is that he is not a good pass-catching running back. Sunday was the second consecutive week Jones threw a dart right off Barkley's hands that ricocheted into the air and was intercepted by an opposing defender.

PFF graded Barkley, who suffered an ankle sprain on the game's final drive, as the 18th best running back in football Sunday.

Barkley is an all-world talent, but the Giants offense operates better with Jones as the focal point and Barkley as the key secondary piece.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Jones had a career-high 229 passing yards of play-action passes. The quarterback averaged 12.1 yards per attempt in play-action passes, compared to 5.1 yards per attempt in other passing plays.

With the threat of Barkley running the ball, defenses are forced to play closer to the line of scrimmage, leaving advantageous one-on-one opportunities for Jones to exploit.

Jones exploited every single one of the situations Sunday, and showed the outside world that he is the leader of this Giants team.