Giants vs. Dolphins: Best Social Reactions to New York's Win on Monday Night

Two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Eli Manning challenged the status quo of mediocrity in the NFC East on Monday night as he led his New York Giants to a season-saving, prime-time victory over the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium.

Improving to 6-7 in the regular season—triggering a three-way tie atop the NFC East with both the Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles—do the Giants have enough in them this season to overcome their recent three-game losing streak and gain a playoff berth?

The Giants we watched last night on Monday Night Football looked eerily similar to that 2011 Giants team that lost four games in a row during Weeks 10-13 yet managed to win the division with a 9-7 record after winning three of their final four games.

Looking at this season through rose-tinted glasses, the Giants have accomplished a remarkable feat by staying neck-and-neck with their NFC East rivals in a season that easily could have gone a different way. Yet one has to wonder if that speaks more about the Giants or their running mates. It also raises one question: Are the Giants simply delaying their inevitable demise?

Regardless what the answer may be, the Giants were sensational on Monday night as they kept their playoff hopes alive in a must-win game against the Miami Dolphins. And with three weeks remaining in the season, is it conceivable that these New York Giants finish out as strong as their predecessor did in 2011?

Keep that question in the back of your mind as we examine what people were saying about the game on social media, and as we look forward and try to predict how this season will end for the Giants.

If it was a battle of superstars last night, the Giants—headlined by Manning and receiver Odell Beckham Jr.—proved they had one too many for the Dolphins to handle. Starting with Beckham, who set a Giants franchise record for most consecutive 100-yard receiving games in a single season last night, per NFL Network’s Instagram:

Beckham finished the game with seven catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns to boot, extending his total tally to 24 touchdowns through his first 25 starts in the NFL—good for second most in NFL history, per ESPN Stats & Info:

And his partner in crime (you know, the guy who makes the one-handed throw to Beckham’s one-handed catch?) wasn’t too shabby either. Completing 87 percent of his passes, Manning delivered unquestionably his most impressive performance of the season. His numbers speak for themselves, and the NFL did a fine job of illustrating those numbers on Instagram:

It wasn’t easy for the Giants early on, as the Dolphins hung with them closely through the first half. The Giants scored first off a Josh Brown 35-yard field goal, but Miami quickly answered with a Lamar Miller rushing touchdown. Both teams traded scores from that point on and entered the half tied at 17 points apiece. But it was the Giants who made the necessary plays in the second half to seal the win.

Andy Guyader of TheQ5.com provided an effective statistical graph to break down all the scoring sequences from the game:

Aware of the gravity of the situation, the Giants rose to the occasion and outscored the Dolphins 14-7 in the second half, in a game that was much closer than the box score will show. Manning addressed the mindset the team had entering the game in his postgame remarks, saying that the team understood it “needed a win,” Jeff Darlington of NFL.com reported.

And they accomplished that.

With the critical win last night, the Giants improve to 6-7 and will face the undefeated Carolina Panthers next Sunday in perhaps New York’s toughest contest of the 2015-16 regular season. And speaking of Carolina, what do you think of the clever spin that the New York Daily News put on the looming matchup between these two teams?

For the record, Jon Gruden, co-host of Monday Night Football on ESPN, evaluated after the game that the Giants have the “thick skin that it takes to be a championship team.”

Gruden also praised Manning’s performance, even going so far as to say that if he can maintain his high level of play moving forward that the Giants defense will essentially be unnecessary, as ESPN Monday Night tweets:

"

"If Eli Manning continues to play like he played tonight, i don't care what their defense does." https://t.co/Tc7W7Rh2VA

— ESPN Monday Night (@ESPNMondayNight) December 15, 2015"

They will have to show more of that thick skin if they want to beat the Panthers next Sunday. It’s a tall order for a team that’s not even above .500, but if any team can do it, the Giants can.