Daniel Jones and Kyle Allen were on the field for different reasons Sunday, but both came away with spectacular performances that many didn’t anticipate.
Jones, the widely panned No. 6 overall draft pick, led the New York Giants to a 32-31 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by passing and running for two touchdowns apiece. He gave the Giants their first win of the season after Eli Manning was benched following two lackluster games.
Jones finished with 336 yards on 23-of-36 passing. After the Giants fell behind 28-10 and star running back Saquon Barkley exited early with an injury, Jones led three second-half touchdown drives, capping one off with a complete pass for a two-point conversion.
He sprinted in for the game-winning touchdown with just 1:16 remaining:
Daniel Jones. That’s it. That’s all. Unbelievable. (via @Giants) pic.twitter.com/BKsW6TKpsX
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 22, 2019
Giants fans asking Daniel Jones for draft day forgiveness: #GiantsPride #Giants pic.twitter.com/7KDOPxu9gp
— Dave Barabas (@barabas_dave) September 22, 2019
Meanwhile, Allen filled in for the injured Cam Newton and threw for four touchdowns to lead Carolina over Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals, 38-20.
He had running back Christian McCaffrey to thank for much of the Panthers’ offense — 153 yards on 24 touches. But Allen finished with 261 yards on 19-for-26 passing, posting a terrific 144.4 passer rating.
Although Jones presumably will be New York’s starter going forward, he and Allen provided the biggest highlights of what ought to be called “backup quarterback week” in the NFL.
Their performances came four days after Gardner Minshew led the Jacksonville Jaguars to victory on “Thursday Night Football” in his second NFL start. Teddy Bridgewater, in for the injured Drew Brees, passed for 177 yards and two scores Sunday to beat the Seattle Seahawks, 33-27.
But of the six backups who had to start this week, not all of them left the field with smiles on their faces. With Ben Roethlisberger ruled out for the year, Mason Rudolph couldn’t carry the Pittsburgh Steelers past the San Francisco 49ers, and Pittsburgh fell to 0-3.
Same for the New York Jets and Luke Falk, their third starting QB in three weeks after Sam Darnold contracted mononucleosis and Trevor Siemian hurt his ankle. The Patriots walked over Falk and the Jets, 30-14 — and Falk and the Jets offense did not produce either of their touchdowns.
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.