KENNY STEPS UP AS THE GUY
Golladay earns his money when Giants need him most
The Giants haven’t had an alpha around here since Odell Beckham Jr. On Sunday, Kenny Golladay became that player for Daniel Jones.
Golladay’s 28-yard catch and run on 3rd and 7 on the final drive of regulation was an elite play, a powerful demonstration of skill and will to set up Graham Gano’s field goal to force overtime.
Coaches like to tell their players to put their “big boy pants” on in crunch time. That was a big boy play, the kind the Giants paid
Golladay in free agency to make, the kind he was screaming at offensive coordinator Jason Garrett to call back in Week 2.
“That’s all I can really ask for,” Golladay, the Giants’ No. 1 receiver, said of seeing Daniel Jones’ pass come his way with the game on the line. “And on top of that, when my number is called, I want to be there to answer that bell to make that big play.”
Golladay caught six passes on seven targets for 116 yards. He caught three passes of 23 or more yards.That included a 27-yarder on first down in the second quarter and a 23-yarder on 3rd and 5 from the Saints’ 29 in overtime.
Golladay’s overtime catch basically sealed the game, setting up Saquon Barkley’s sixyard TD run on the following play.
“We work that play in practice,” Golladay said of his catch on the left sideline. “It could not have been a better time for that to be called. It was pretty much wide open. I ran a good route and Daniel Jones put it right on me. He threw the ball all over the place today.”
That final drive catch and run in regulation, however, was the type of play that not many receivers in this league can make. It was the play the Giants signed Golladay to make when they inked him to a four-year, $72 million contract with $40 million guaranteed in March.
Saints rookie corner Paulson Adebo had good coverage, but Golladay snagged Jones’ pass to his inside shoulder and bullied Saints defenders to bounce off a tackle and get upfield.
He caught the ball only five yards downfield. He ran for 23 after the catch. It was the culmination of an aggressive mentality Golladay brought all afternoon.
He knows he’s not the fastest receiver out there, so when he catches the ball, he makes sure the defense feels him. He powers upfield with a physical mentality. He’s punishing.
“In that time right there, I’m not thinking about ... I’m not trying to do more than what I’m asked to do,” Golladay said. “It was a slant
route. I made a guy miss, broke the tackle, and now we just gotta push downfield.
“To be honest, I didn’t know I was gonna break that tackle,” he said. “I just knew I had to catch the ball and try to get us down there the best way I could. I was able to bounce off that tackle and get us downfield. That’s all I was worried about.
Being healthier no doubt had something to do with Golladay’s best game as a Giant, also, dwarfing his previous high of 64 receiving yards in both Weeks 1 and 3.
Golladay, 27, coming off four seasons in Detroit, missed most of this summer’s training camp with a hamstring injury. He also has dealt with a hip issue the last few weeks.
Now, according to NextGenStats and ESPN, Golladay’s average yards of separation is increasing every single week: from 0.93 against Denver, to 1.52 against Washington, to 3.1 against Atlanta, to 3.35 against New Orleans.
“I felt like going into this week my legs were starting to get under me a little bit more,” Golladay said. “I was just trying to stack those days on top of one another and it really goes back to me listening to my body, listening to the coaches and listening to the training staff. This is my fifth year. I’m learning my body.”
Golladay’s signing, of course, was only necessary because of the 2019 Beckham trade in the first place. It robbed Jones of playing with an explosive, generational talent at receiver for his first two seasons.
And Golladay is still looking for his first touchdown catch as a Giant, which will probably be necessary next Sunday at Dallas to keep pace with Dak Prescott’s Cowboys’ offense.
Still, Golladay’s first trip to the end zone certainly feels more like a matter of when, not if, after seeing Jones lean on him as the clear No. 1 of the 2021 Giants offense.