4 plays that powered the NY Giants over the Vikings on Sunday

With so many things going against them both before and during the NY Giants Wild Card matchup against the Vikings, Big Blue managed to pull through in epic fashion, taking Minnesota down 31-24 in an unreal showdown.

This win felt so good for a lot of reasons. Not only did the Giants pull off a big upset, but they showed that the offense can show up and score when the team needs them to. The game, for the most part, was determined by momentum and which team could make the most big-time plays. For NY, four in particular stood out in the thrilling victory:

4. Saquon Barkley’s fantastic 28-yard touchdown run

After the Vikings marched right down the field and scored with relative ease, we knew the Giants would have to win this game in shootout fashion. This meant they needed an offensive statement early on to set up some momentum.

Not only did they get that momentum they needed, but they started things off on offense with a bang. The opening drive was a thing of beauty from offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, with things ending on a 28-yard touchdown run from Saquon Barkley.

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Everyone knew Barkley needed to dominate this game to help boost the Giants odds of winning and he did exactly that, running the ball nine times for 53 yards and two touchdowns while also catching five passes for 56 yards.

It was a little surprising to see Barkley run the ball just nine times, but you can’t complain much when the Giants win. Barkley did everything it took to help deliver the Giants this sweet victory and this play was just the start of arguably the best offensive performance from the team all season.

Hopefully Barkley can keep it up against the Eagles in the Divisional Round – if he does, we could very well see the G-Men make an NFC Championship Game appearance.