MEXICO CITY.- Take a look over the shoulders of the NEW YORK GIANTS offensive gathering, courtesy of running back SAQUON BARKLEY.
Down 20-10 on Sunday with less than 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the ball at their own 25-yard line, what were the Giants thinking at the time?
“Let’s score,” said Barkley, who leads the NFL with 771 scrimmage yards. “That’s the only thing we had in our mindset. Let’s answer. That’s the first thing we said. There is no panic on this team at all, not just on offense but on defense and special teams. Great complementary football.”
And after New York’s 75-yard touchdown drive cut the lead to 20-17, the big complementary football came from safety JULIAN LOVE, whose interception set up Barkley’s scoring run with 1:43 remaining that gave them the lead, and rookie KAYVON THIBODEUX, whose subsequent sack and forced fumble sealed the win.
The Giants (5-1) have erased 10-point deficits in three of their five wins this season (Barkley has the winning points in each of those three comebacks), but their resurgent mentality is not uncommon. In 2022, there were:
19 games won or tied by a team trailing by 10 or more points, tying for the most through Week 6 in history.
32 games in which a team came back to win or tie after trailing in the final period, tying with 1989 (32) for the most such performances through Week 6 in NFL history.
74 one-scoring games (eight points) in the final period, the most in league annals at this point in a season.
Rest assured, there will be many more fantastic endings this season.
All 11 starters entering Week 7…
1. COMPETITION AND MORE COMPETITION. KANSAS CITY (4-2) has an intriguing date with SAN FRANCISCO (3-3) on Sunday (4:25 PM ET, FOX). Since meeting in Super Bowl LIV to end the 2019 season, the Chiefs lead the NFL in total yards per game (402.4) while the 49ers lead the NFL in fewest yards allowed (303.5).
In consecutive weeks, the Chiefs will have faced the No. 1 offense and No. 1 defense in the NFL. Buffalo led the league in yards per game entering Week 6 at Kansas City and San Francisco leads the league this season in fewest yards allowed (255.8) entering Week 7.
2. WEEK ISSUE – 6. The combined wins of ATLANTA and CINCINNATI since September 18. After each club opened 0-2, both teams have won three of their last four. The winner of Sunday’s game (1:00 PM ET, FOX) between the 3-3 teams could be left alone in first place in their division on Monday morning.
3. THREE DEGREES OF SEPARATION. Put coach BILL BELICHICK’s DNA under a microscope and there’s likely plenty of GEORGE HALAS, whose career win mark of his could surpass the Patriots head coach this week. That’s because the person who gave Belichick his first NFL assistant job in 1975, TED MARCHIBRODA, spent his formative years as a coordinator (1971-74) with GEORGE ALLEN. And Allen undoubtedly learned countless lessons from Halas as an assistant and coordinator for the Bears from 1959-65. With a win when NEW ENGLAND (3-3) hosts CHICAGO (2-4) in the Monday Night Football Classic (8:15 PM ET, ESPN), Belichick would surpass Halas (324 ) for the second-most combined regular season and postseason wins in NFL history. Only Hall of Famer DON SHULA (347) won more.
4. IN THE MARQUEE – INDIVIDUAL CONFRONTATION. Two of the game’s most exciting young players, rookie wide receiver GARRETT WILSON and sophomore cornerback PAT SURTAIN II, will be on opposite sides when the NEW YORK JETS (4-2) take on the DENVER BRONCOS (2-4) on Sunday. (4:05 PM ET, CBS). Wilson leads all AFC rookies with 290 receiving yards and, since he entered the league in 2021, Surtain is tied for third in the AFC with 19 passes defensed. Surtain, who is 99 days older than Wilson, was selected No. 9 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft while Wilson was the No. 10 overall pick in the 2022 Draft. And both have parents who excelled in athletics. Surtain is the son of PATRICK SURTAIN, a former All-Pro cornerback. Wilson is the son of Kenny Wilson, a Davidson College Hall Hall of Fame basketball player who once helped the Wildcats defeat Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke Blue Devils.
5. IN THE MARQUEE – TEAMS SHOWDOWN. CLEVELAND (2-4) visits BALTIMORE (3-3) on Sunday (1:00 PM ET, CBS). The Browns lead the NFL with 172.0 rushing yards per game. The Ravens lead the NFL with 5.95 yards per carry.
6. TALKING STREAKS. Seattle rookie cornerback TARIQ WOOLEN has four interceptions, tying Buffalo’s JORDAN POYER for the NFL lead. Woolen, the latest in an impressive list of secondary picks by Seattle on Day 3 of the Draft, began his college career as a catcher at Texas-San Antonio. Considered among the fastest active players in the NFL, Woolen posted a time of 4.26 seconds for the 40-yard dash at the Indianapolis combine in March.
Woolen has one pass intercepted in four straight games. When SEATTLE (3-3) travels to SoFi Stadium to face the LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (4-2) on Sunday (4:25 PM ET, FOX), Woolen could extend his streak of games with an interception to five , the longest by an NFL rookie since JAIRUS BYRD went on a five-game winning streak in 2009. … Woolen is also the only rookie since the 1970 merger to record both an interception and a fumble recovery in consecutive games.
7. DID YOU KNOW? When the NEW YORK GIANTS (5-1) visit the JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (2-4) on Sunday (1:00 PM ET, FOX), DANIEL JONES and TREVOR LAWRENCE will meet for the first time since November 17, 2018, when Clemson defeated Duke during the postseason of the Tigers’ 15-0 season in college football. Jacksonville running back TRAVIS ETIENNE had two runs in that game for Clemson. … After leading the Jaguars to the AFC Championship Game in 1996, former Jacksonville head coach TOM COUGHLIN guided the Giants to two Super Bowl wins, in 2007 and 2011. Coughlin is one of two people on the history of winning multiple Super Bowls and leading franchises in both the NFC and AFC Championship Games as an NFL head coach. The other is Hall of Famer BILL PARCELLS.
8. HISTORY UNDER THE RADAR. Last week, AUSTIN EKELER joined Hall of Famer LENNY MOORE as one of two players in history to record 25 rushing touchdowns and 25 receiving touchdowns in his first six NFL seasons. Ekeler was not only passed over by every team in the 2017 NFL Draft, he also received no scholarship offer from Division I. Additionally, only one Division II school wanted him as a running back, Western State (Colo.). His younger brother, Wyett Ekeler, is a sophomore safety at the University of Wyoming, a program that has produced Bills quarterback JOSH ALLEN, Eagles safety MARCUS EPPS, Jaguars linebacker CHAD MUMA and Bengals linebacker LOGAN WILSON, among others. Ekeler and the LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (4-2) host the SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (3-3) on Sunday (4:25 PM ET, FOX).
9. TREND. TENNESSEE TITANS (3-2) come off their bye to host the INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (3-2-1) on Sunday (1:00 PM ET, CBS). The Titans’ offense leads the league in red zone efficiency (12 runs on 13 possessions, 92.3 percent). In each of the past three seasons, the most efficient offense in the NFL’s red zone during the regular season (Tennessee in 2019, Green Bay in 2020 and San Francisco in 2021) advanced to the conference championship game.
10. THIS WEEK IN NFL HISTORY. Oct. 22, 2017 (five years ago) – DAK PRESCOTT throws three touchdown passes, including a 72-yarder to EZEKIEL ELLIOTT, to lead the Cowboys to a 40-10 win at San Francisco. Elliott rushes for 147 yards and two more touchdowns. …This week, Prescott could return from injury to start DALLAS (4-2) at home against DETROIT (1-4) on Sunday (1:00 PM ET, CBS).
11. AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST. Can a surprise play impact the Sunday Night Football deomnigo classic between PITTSBURGH (2-4) and MIAMI (3-3) at Hard Rock Stadium (8:20 PM ET, NBC)? A punt deception made all the difference when the teams met 50 years ago in the 1972 AFC Championship Game. His club needed a spark, Dolphins punter LARRY SEIPLE rushed for 37 yards to set up LARRY’s touchdown. CSONKA – one of 17 Hall of Famers from this particular matchup – who tied the game, rousing Miami en route to a 21-17 win over the Steelers. To make the Dolphins’ path to a perfect season even more difficult, Miami had to travel to Three Rivers Stadium because, at the time, the NFL determined the conference championship hosts on a rotating system. Pittsburgh had advanced to that game after his legendary Immaculate Reception a week earlier. The Dolphins will celebrate the 50th anniversary of that perfect season on Sunday.
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Fantastic finishes abound on the NFL journey as the league heads into week seven