Who said the Giants don’t have a quarterback?
Drew Lock delivered the best pᴀssing game by a Giants quarterback since the end of the 2019 season Sunday to fuel a stunning offensive outburst from the NFL’s lowest scoring team in a 45-33 upset victory against the Colts.
“Almost perfect,” receiver Darius Slayton said of Lock’s performance. “It’s hard to play any better than that.”
Of course, one great game by a journeyman backup heading to free agency after the season isn’t going to alter the Giants’ plan to draft a new franchise quarterback — even though that path became a little stickier because the win to snap a 10-game slide bumped them from holding the No. 1 pick in 2025.
But there was no ignoring the rarity of Lock’s 309-yard, four-touchdown (and a fifth touchdown on the ground) performance.
He joined Tommy DeVito (once) as the only Giants to throw for three or more touchdowns in a game since the start of the 2020 season, and had the first five-touchdown game by a Giants quarterback since Daniel Jones on Dec. 22, 2019.
“It means a lot,” Lock said after completing 17-of-23 pᴀsses. “I knew it was in me.”
Head coach Brian Daboll was admittedly hard on Lock all week after he threw two interceptions returned for touchdowns last week in a loss to the Falcons.
The Giants stuck with Lock — who they strangely pᴀssed over to go with Tommy DeVito once the Jones Era ended in November — for another start (his fourth in the six games since Jones was released) and he delivered.
“That’s how the offense needs to perform. That’s how the quarterback needs to perform,” Daboll said. “I’m happy with Drew and how he played. I’m proud of him. It wasn’t great last week. I was on him pretty good. But he’s a mentally tough guy and had a good week.”
Lock responded well to Daboll’s style.
“Dabes is fiery,” Lock said. “But at the same time … I’ve been jumped before. I’ve been yelled at. I’m used to that. You can shell up or you can take it like a man. I’ve always been the one that kind of gets me going. I need a little bit of that. He expects a lot from me, as I do myself. I can at least appreciate that.”
In the first quarter, Lock completed 7-of-8 pᴀsses with three touchdowns — one each to receivers Malik Nabers, Wan’Dale Robinson and Darius Slayton.
He threw another to Nabers, but clinched the win with his legs on a five-yard touchdown scramble on third-and-goal to extend the lead to 42-33 with 2:57 to go.
“He was balling,” right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor said. “He was doing his little [shuffle] thing. That’s a guy who has taken the brunt of it. It’s hard to play quarterback. It’s hard to play quarterback in New York. For him to go out there and do his thing was cool to see.”
