Let it not be said that Daniel Jones, the second-year quarterback of the New York Giants, does not have wheels. Jones showed his impressive speed on a highlight run in the third quarter of his team’s 22-21 loss to the Eagles Thursday night. Because Jones runs like the wind, he was able to turn a simple misdirection play behind the line of scrimmage into an untouched 80-yard sprint up the right side. Unfortunately for him, he had 88 yards to cover.
Because Jones teetered and tumbled like a toddler, at the end of that ecstatic run he was still eight yards from the end zone, prone and touched down by defenders who would otherwise have had zero chance of catching him.
This humbling moment probably did not wind up mattering to the final score. The Giants capped that drive three plays later with a one-yard touchdown rush that put them ahead. It took a late Carson Wentz–led touchdown drive and a spectacular sideline grab by Boston Scott inside the game’s final minute for the Eagles to snatch this win and become the NFC East’s second two-win team. It's Week 7.
Because it is spooky season, I would like to share a passage from Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, which I think you will agree is relevant to the moment. It has to do with Gage, the small child of the book’s central character, going for a run:
[He] saw Gage running across the lawn toward the road. They were yelling at Gage to come back, but he wouldn’t—lately the game had been to run away from Mommy-Daddy—and then they were chasing him, Louis quickly outdistancing Rachel, but Gage held a big lead, Gage was laughing, Gage was running away from Daddy—that was the game—and Louis was closing the distance but too slowly, Gage was running down the mild slope of the lawn now to the verge of Route 15, and Louis prayed to God that Gage would fall down—when little kids ran fast, they almost always fell down because a person’s control over his legs didn’t get really cool until he was maybe seven or eight. Louis prayed to God that Gage would fall down, fall down, yes, fall down bloody his knees crack his skull need stitches whatever, because now he could hear the drone of a truck coming toward them…
Stephen King, Pet Sematary
Two noteworthy things, here [SPOILER ALERT]. Gage does not fall down, because despite his father’s desperation even a small child can usually run in a straight line without randomly upending itself. Gage runs so successfully, in fact, that even when he realizes that his parents are not playing around he is unable to stop his momentum from carrying him upright another few yards. But! Gage also gets smushed by an 18-wheeler at the end of his long run. If their positions had been switched, Daniel Jones would not have been smushed by an 18-wheeler. Giants fans can decide for themselves whether that is a good thing.
