Twitter Hypes Giants' Kayvon Thibodeaux for Dominant Showing in Win over Commanders

The New York Giants have the inside track on a playoff spot thanks in large part to their rookie defensive end.

Despite an inconsistent offensive performance, the New York Giants escaped Sunday's NFC East showdown with a 20-12 victory over the Washington Commanders at FedEx Field. The teams tied two weeks ago and had identical 7-5-1 records entering the game, but the Giants moved ahead with a critical head-to-head win.

While Saquon Barkley is often the headliner for New York and scored a touchdown, it was defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux who stole the show. He finished with 12 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and, most importantly, a defensive touchdown.

The Oregon product received plenty of love on social media:

New York seized control and built a 14-3 lead in a first half that included an 18-play, 97-yard drive that took more than eight minutes off the clock and featured a 4th-and-9 conversion and a direct snap to Barkley for a touchdown run.

Yet it was still Thibodeaux who made the big play with a strip-sack before he recovered the fumble he forced and returned it for a touchdown. He was in takeover mode even beyond the highlight play, creating constant pressure and standing out against the running game.

All the pressure was on the Giants defense when their offense went stagnant in the second half with just two field goals, but the unit answered the call. Thibodeaux didn't replicate his statistical dominance of the first half, but he still drew double teams, opened up blitzing lanes for his teammates and sped up Taylor Heinicke's internal clock.

Naturally, he was the one making the tackle at the 1-yard line on Washington's final drive that stalled in a goal-to-go situation in the final minute.

Now Thibodeaux and the rest of the Giants will turn their attention to a Christmas Eve matchup and potential playoff preview against the Minnesota Vikings.