New York Giants studs and duds: Daniel Jones runs his way to victory

The New York Giants won a playoff game on the road against the Minnesota Vikings. Here’s a look at who stood out as studs and duds in the win.

There was already one exciting finish on Sunday when the Buffalo Bills held off the Miami Dolphins and then the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings gave us another nail-biter.

New York took a lead early and Minnesota continued to fight back but in the end, the Giants secured a 31-24 victory. Now, let’s look back at the game and identify some studs and duds for New York.

New York Giants studs and duds from Wild Card Round win

Stud: Dexter Lawrence, DT

Sometimes, the big defensive tackles don’t get the love they deserve. That’s not the case for Dexter Lawrence who was making plays all night against Minnesota.

Having said that, the most impactful play for him didn’t even register in the stat book. On third-and-12 in the fourth quarter, the Vikings were trying to convert a third-and-12 but Lawrence bullied Garrett Bradbury into the backfield and disrupted the play.

Kirk Cousins got the pass off while being tackled by Leonard Williams but it was Lawrence that forced him to hurry. And that led to the ball sailing on Cousins, who missed Dalvin Cook and had to punt it back to the Giants.

Tomlinson was called for a roughing penalty on the next drive, which was a highly questionable call and should have been another big play for Lawrence who forced an incompletion.

Dud: Nick Gates, G

Saquon Barkley started the game on the right foot offensively as he ran to the left side for a 13-yard gain. Unfortunately, the play didn’t count as Nick Gates was flagged for holding, setting them up with a first and 20. New York fought their way out of it but that was a tough way to start the game.