5 NY Giants heroes who saved Big Blue in the epic win over Arizona

Breathe a sigh of relief, Giants fans. The New York Giants trailed 20-0 at halftime to the Arizona Cardinals, who have arguably the league's worst roster. The first half was one of the ugliest halves we have seen a Giants squad play in the last decade, but they bounced back in the second half.

I don't know what Brian Daboll said to the Giants at the half; knowing him, it was an expletive-laden tirade. Whatever happened in the locker room, it fired up the Giants. New York came out on fire and outscored the Cardinals 31-8 in the second half en route to a 31-28 comeback win. The win marked the largest comeback in Giants history since the start of the Super Bowl era.

It was an ugly win, but it was necessary with San Fransisco, Seattle, Buffalo, and Miami on the schedule the next four weeks. Here are five Giants heroes who saved Big Blue (and may have even saved the season) in the thrilling win over Arizona:

5. WR Jalin Hyatt

Jalin Hyatt had no catches last week or in the first two quarters this week. He was open deep multiple times against Dallas in the first half, but Daniel Jones never looked his way. Brian Daboll, Mike Kafka, or quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney told Jones at halftime to start looking the way of Hyatt in the second half, which completely changed the game.

On the first play of the second half, Jones threw a beautiful bomb deep to the speedster Hyatt for 58 yards, completely changing the momentum and setting the tone for the second half.

Hyatt had this to say to reporters about the play after the game. "I told DJ right before we broke out after the huddle, I said, 'Throw it,' I said, 'Just throw it.' And he trusted me; he threw it."

Hyatt also hauled in a 31-yard pass from Jones with the Giants down 28-21. The catch was heavily contested. The catch set up the Giants game-tying touchdown, which was fantastic to see. Despite having just two catches, his 89 receiving yards led the Giants. His ability to create big plays is a game-changer for the Giants offense and NY must get him more involved moving forward.

4. RB Saquon Barkley

Saquon Barkley was not a huge factor in the Giants game plan this week, but he still made his impact felt. No. 26 rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. However, even when the ball wasn't in his hands, Saquon still had people in AZ worried.

Barkley's ability to be a monster in the run game put fear in the Cardinals, forcing them to stack the box to stop him. This opened up the play-action game for the Giants in the second half, as the Cardinals continued to sell out to stop Barkley despite the Giants not handing the ball off to him. Jones repeatedly faked to Barkley and then found wide-open receivers.

After an Evan Neal false start wiped away a Jones rushing touchdown to cut the deficit to seven, the Giants were backed up, but Barkley made one heck of a play on third and goal, tight-roping the sideline and sneaking into the endzone.

With the game tied, the Giants leaned on Barkley to get into field goal range, and he delivered a prime, angry Saquon run.

The bittersweet aspect of this victory was Barkley's ankle injury right before the game-winning field goal. Barkley was rolled up on and slammed his helmet on the sideline in frustration after the play, indicating his injury could be severe. However, it has since been reported that Barkley suffered a sprained ankle and his injury is not a serious one.

3. WR Isaiah Hodgins

No Giants player is more underrated than Isaiah Hodgins. All he does is produce. He may not be the most talented wideout on the Giants roster, but he is undoubtedly the Giants No. 1 wide receiver and by far their most clutch.

Hodgins caught four Jones passes for 40 yards today, tied with Parris Campbell for the most catches by a Giants wideout. Most importantly, Hodgins caught the game-tying touchdown on a clutch throw from Jones.

Hodgins runs such smooth routes. If you are having deja vu watching this play, it's because it is the same play the Giants ran in the Wild Card Round win at Minnesota, with the same result. Jones found Hodgins to give the Giants the lead in that game and found Hodgins to tie the game this week.

Hodgins deserves more praise for his play in New York and he will continue to be the go-to wideout for Jones. Whenever Danny Dimes needs someone with secure hands to make a play, Hodgins seems to be ready to answer the call. Similar to the next guy we're going to talk about...

2. TE Darren Waller

The biggest acquisition of the Giants offseason was mighty quiet for the first six quarters of his Giants career (pretty much everyone was quiet for the first six quarters), but he made a profound impact in the second half.

Since Jones was drafted in 2019, he has been without a go-to target late in the game. That has cost the Giants many games. Darren Waller, a former Pro Bowler, was brought over to New York to give Jones a big-time passing game weapon, and he looked like that in Arizona.

Waller was the ultimate security blanket for Jones. When Jones needed to throw someone the ball in clutch time, he looked the way of Waller, and Waller did not disappoint. The physical tight end caught six passes for 76 yards. Waller was a chain mover for the Giants, constantly converting challenging situations and extending Giants drives. Four of Waller's six catches were for first downs, while the other two set up big plays.

Waller had clutch hands all day and has also shown the ability to assist the Giants offensive line in the blocking department. Waller looks the part on the field and should continue to be a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses.

1. QB Daniel Jones

I hope Danny Dimes stayed off Twitter at halftime because it was a bloodbath. People were calling for his job, a laughable thought after his second-half performance. Jones led the Giants on four touchdown drives while looking calm, confident, and showing more poise than we have seen at any time in his career.

In the second half, Jones was 17of-21, with 317 total yards and three touchdowns. He made history in the process, doing something no quarterback or player in the NFL has ever done.

Jones threw for 233 yards in the second half. Jones was throwing the ball all over the yard, and most importantly, he was looking to throw deep. After watching the Giants' coaching staff conservatively coach Jones his entire career, it was nice to see them let Jones loose. He showed the coaching staff and the NFL world he can make every throw needed.

Jones' 59 rushing yards were clutch. He took off and extended drives when nobody was open instead of forcing the ball into coverage. Jones was given excellent protection tonight; shout out to Josh Ezeudu, who was fantastic in his first-ever game at left tackle. They gave Jones time (in the second half), and he diced up the Cardinals defense.

Jones was fiery in the second half, showing a ton of emotion. It was evident that this was his team; he is the leader of this Giants squad and was not going to let them lose a game they needed to have.

READ MORE: 5 takeaways from the NY Giants thrilling win over Arizona