SEATTLE — After six seasons as a New York Giants quarterback, Daniel Jones understands the New York media experience. That’s especially true when thinking about the ups (the 2022 playoff victory) and downs (where do you even want to begin?) of his career.

“There will always be a story of the week or a kind of idea that’s out there,” Jones explained Sunday. “It’s our job to know what’s real and know what’s going on. To fix the problems that are real but also to ignore the things that aren’t.”

This past week, Jones and his teammates were tasked with trying to ignore a narrative that suggested the Giants had no chance to beat the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. The thinking went: This was a cross-country trip to one of the most hostile environments in the NFL against a quality opponent without two of their top playmakers in rookie sensation Malik Nabers and starting running back Devin Singletary. Coming off an ugly loss against Dallas last Thursday, the Giants had no chance. A fall to 1-4 was a given.

Or so the story of the week went.

But Jones and his teammates didn’t let a bad narrative get in the way of a good day. On Sunday, they played their most complete game of the year en route to a 29-20 victory that might just help change the trajectory of their season.

Jones, in particular, looked poised throughout Sunday’s game, racking up 257 yards and two touchdowns while going 23-of-34 passing. Of course, what’s more important than the quality stats — which he’s posted routinely lately — was marrying them with a win. Against Dallas, Jones’ final numbers looked good, but the scoreboard didn’t.

On Sunday, Jones made both shine.

“It all started with DJ just dicing the defense up, being confident as hell and just throwing the ball downfield,” right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor said after Sunday’s victory.

Actually, the way things started Sunday, it certainly didn’t seem like a win was in the offing for New York. In fact, the Giants’ first offensive play seemed to foretell a rocky afternoon, as Jones tripped in the pocket and then fumbled, pushing the Giants within five yards of their own end zone. Jones recovered, however, and proceeded to lead a 10-minute drive down the field which ended catastrophically. Running back Eric Gray fumbled while diving into the end zone, and Seahawks safety Rayshawn Jenkins recovered it before running 102 yards for a Seattle touchdown.

99 yards and a skip into the endzone…

TOUCHDOWN RAYSHAWN JENKINS! pic.twitter.com/XY4wpFXLwI

Advertisement

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) October 6, 2024

But the Giants didn’t let the devastating start derail them. Instead, two series later, Jones marched the Giants 81 yards down the field and knotted the game 7-to-7 with a touchdown pass to Wan’Dale Robinson.

That’s six for Robinson 🫡

📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/uoRBHFsui5

— New York Giants (@Giants) October 6, 2024

Jones set up that 7-yard strike to Robinson with an 11-yard scamper. That was his longest run of a game in which he relied on his legs quite a bit. Jones rushed 11 times — more than any game since the 2023 season-opener (13) — for 38 yards.

While Jones’ legs are an asset, he should probably be more careful going forward, as he took a few cringe-inducing hits — though he delivered a few hits of his own, lowering his shoulder and impressing his teammates.

“That man does not feel pain because he was running right into the fricking smoke all day today,” Eluemunor said. “I mean as an offensive lineman, you’ll run through a brick wall for that type of guy.”

Fortunately for Jones’ health, the Giants running game didn’t rely solely on him trying to be a battering ram. Rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr. stepped up in the absence of Singletary, rushing for 129 yards on 18 carries in his first career start. Gray, the second-year back, added 50 receiving yards on three receptions.

But it was the passing game where the Giants shined. A week after taking a lot of criticism for missing his deep shots, Jones connected on Sunday.

He finished 2-for-2 on passes that traveled 20-plus yards in the air, both of which went to veteran receiver Darius Slayton on the same drive. He hit Slayton down the near sideline for a 41-yard gain before connecting with Slayton again on a 30-yard score three plays later.

DJ LAUNCHES TO SLAYTON 🚀

📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/Ei9YalCAPD

— New York Giants (@Giants) October 6, 2024

That Jones was so productive Sunday without Nabers, who had a league-high target share of 38.2 percent coming into the game, is encouraging. It’s even more encouraging that Jones keeps stringing together quality games. Over the past four weeks, Jones has completed 67.6 percent of passes, thrown for 952 yards, six touchdowns and just one interception while taking only seven sacks. Jones’ 0.18 EPA/dropback during that stretch (Weeks 2-5) ranked sixth in the league entering “Sunday Night Football.” Even with his abysmal Week 1 factored in, Jones is 15th in the NFL in EPA/dropback (0.04).

“It’s never been easy for him, but everything we’ve asked him to do, he does it the very best he can do it,” coach Brian Daboll said. “He’s played some good football here. We’re going to need him to continue to do that.”

It’s been and up-and-down start for New York, now 2-3, but the Giants offense has looked better each game and this week at least, the final score reflected that.

“I feel like I’m a better player than I was then,” Jones said when asked if he feels he’s back to his 2022 playoff level. “I’m a better player every week. That’s what you’re always striving for. I get comparing to ’22 or years past or whatever that — I don’t know how productive that really is. Just focus on getting better right now and being the best I can be week to week.”

Scoop City Newsletter

Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.

Advertisement

Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.

Sign Up

That’s a storyline you can always count on with Jones.

(Photo: Rio Giancarlo / Getty Images)

The Kansas City Chiefs looked like the two-time defending Super Bowl champions that they are in a big 26-13 win over the New Orleans Saints on Monday night.

The Chiefs got started early turning a Derek Carr interception into a touchdown on their first offensive drive. The Chiefs got into a grove as Kansas City scored on four of their first five drives before the half.

Kansas City would put the finishing touches on their win when Travis Kelce lined up as the quarterback near the goal line. He handed the ball off to Xavier Worthy who ran it into the end zone for a 3-yard score.

Patrick Mahomes got Kelce involved in the game a ton. Even as he didn’t score a touchdown, Kelce had nine catches on 10 targets for 70 yards.

Veteran wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster led the way with seven catches for 130 yards. It was the first time Smith-Schuster was over 100 yards receiving since 2022 against the San Francisco 49ers. It was his first stint with the Chiefs.

Mahomes finished 28-of-39 passing for 331 yards. He had one interception and zero touchdown passes.

TAYLOR SWIFT RETURNS TO WATCH CHIEFS TAKE ON SAINTS AFTER MISSING LAST 2 GAMES

New Orleans Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo, right, commits defensive pass interference on Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy (1) during the second half of an NFL football game Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.  (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kareem Hunt scored a touchdown and had 102 rushing yards on the night.

Carr and the Saints seemed like things were going to click. In the second quarter, Carr threw a long pass to Rashid Shaheed for a 43-yard touchdown. The scored was 10-7 at that point. But New Orleans wouldn’t score again until early in the fourth quarter when Carr found Foster Moreau.

Shaheed had four catches for 86 yards.

Carr’s night would be over early as he suffered a hip injury while trying to keep a drive alive on fourth down. The big hit forced him out and let Jake Haener enter the game to finish things out.

The Chiefs moved to 5-0 to start the season as they entered a bye week. The last time Kansas City started a season with five straight wins was in 2018. It was Mahomes’ first season as the full-time starting quarterback and they would go on to lose in the AFC Championship.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) runs pas New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore (23) during the first half of an NFL football game Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.  (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

New Orleans moved to 2-3 after starting the year firing on all cylinders. The Saints have an early divisional matchup at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Manchester City and the Premier League are both claiming victories after a ruling regarding the league’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) regulations was published.

The ruling states that the Premier League’s APT rules and amendments, which were introduced in December 2021 and February of this year respectively, are “unlawful” and in breach of UK competition law as they deliberately exclude shareholder loans — when a club borrows money from its ownership group, usually interest-free.

This case is separate from City’s defence of more than 100 charges against them for allegedly breaching the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), which they deny.

In this case, City claimed that the league’s APT rules — which aim to regulate against its clubs using sponsorship deals with companies linked to their owners to inflate revenue streams and allow room for greater spending — are unlawful and against competition law. The league insisted that the rules were fully compatible with the law.

A statement from City on Monday outlined that the Premier League “was found to have abused its dominant position” by the tribunal. City also pointed out that the panel has ruled two of the league’s decisions on the club’s sponsorship deals — relating to the Etihad Air Group and First Abu Dhabi Bank — should be set aside.

The Premier League, meanwhile, said that it “welcomes” the ruling. The league admitted that the ruling identified “a small number of discrete elements” of the APT which do not comply with competition law but claims it “(endorses) the overall objectives, framework and decision-making of the APT system”.

The Premier League added that the tribunal had deemed the APT rules “necessary” as a means of ensuring the efficacy of the league’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR), “thereby supporting and delivering sporting integrity and sustainability in the Premier League”.

City have won the last four Premier League titles (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

The Premier League says it will continue to operate the APT system, “taking into account the findings” of the tribunal. It added that the elements that do not comply with competition law “can quickly and effectively” be fixed.

The ruling was delivered by a three-person arbitration panel and came after City challenged the league’s APT rules. The case was heard in June.

An amendment to the current APT rules was set to be discussed at a meeting of Premier League shareholders on Thursday but was removed from the agenda ahead of time.

GO DEEPER

Why this latest Manchester City legal row feels different

A key part of Monday’s ruling related to the issue of shareholder loans.

The tribunal decided that as well as sponsorship deals, shareholder loans should also be taken into account by the APT rules. Many of these loans are interest-free, which benefits the club because they will subsequently owe a smaller amount. Arsenal, for example, have borrowed more than £200million ($262m) in shareholder loans, as of the end of 2022-23.

Historically, interest-free shareholder loans have been excluded from the APT rules, which City claimed was unfair. Their argument is that this distorts the profitability and sustainability (PSR) calculations because an interest-free loan cannot be a fair market value. The tribunal agreed with them.

In theory, this means that if interest-free shareholder loans are included within PSR, many clubs will have to rebalance their books in order to avoid a breach.

Arsenal owe more than £200m to their owner, Stan Kroenke (right) (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

In June, a 165-page legal submission seen by British newspaper The Times showed that City argued they have suffered “discrimination” as a result of the league’s APT rules, alleging they amounted to a “tyranny of the majority”. Premier League rules dictate that a majority of 14 clubs must agree to new regulations being implemented.

Premier League clubs voted through temporary measures relating to APT in October 2021. That came following the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) taking control of Newcastle United earlier that month. In December 2021, it was ruled that clubs must submit all sponsorship deals worth over £1million ($1.26m) to the Premier League to decide on the possibility of an APT — despite opposition from City and Newcastle.

Those rules were then were strengthened in February 2024 following another vote among the clubs, who voted in favour of a framework that sees all APTs subjected to a fair market value test, meaning that any deal would have to be financially justifiable for all parties.

There had previously been concerns that ownerships could use multiple companies under their jurisdiction to strike sponsorship agreements that would artificially inflate their own revenue and circumvent PSR rules.

GO DEEPER

City are taking legal action against the Premier League – what does it all mean?

The APT rules, though, ensured that Newcastle have had their sponsorship agreements with PIF-linked events company Sela and e-commerce company Noon subjected to the market value tests.

It is also applicable for any sponsorship agreements between City and other groups with links to the club’s City Football Group (CFG) ownership. City have always voted against or abstained against the introduction of APT rules at Premier League meetings.

In 2022-23, City posted Premier League record revenues of £712.8m (now ¢953m), of which almost half — £341.4m — was commercial income.

Much of City’s revenue came from companies with links to CFG. Etihad, the state airline of the United Arab Emirates, is the lead sponsor for both City’s shirt and stadium.

Etihad Airways has been City’s primary shirt sponsor since 2009 (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Leicester City are also implicated by the APT regulations. Their chief executive and chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha also controls the King Power company, which is the lead sponsor of the club’s jersey, stadium and training kit.

However, City and Newcastle’s close links to state investment offer them a more extensive network of related companies — which is why rival Premier League clubs mobilised to close the loophole.

UEFA also has its own fair-market value test. City’s legal case does not address those laws and the club will still have to comply with them in European competition.

The Athletic will bring you a full breakdown of the decision and its implications in the near future.

(Top photo: Visionhaus/Getty Images)