MINNEAPOLIS — Isaiah Hodgins has reached the point where he can let his play do the talking.

For the second time in 22 days, the no-longer unknown receiver got the best of future Hall of Fame cornerback Patrick Peterson and the rest of the Vikings’ secondary Sunday in a 31-24 playoff victory. This time, he did it with the rest of the league watching and without an excessive amount of jawing back and forth with Peterson after each play.

If there was any debate about who is quarterback Daniel Jones’ go-to receiver in these high-pressure games, it’s quiet now that Hodgins totaled eight catches for 105 yards in his playoff debut despite injuring his ankle during Saturday’s walkthrough. He scored a touchdown for the fifth time in six games (sixth in seven if not for a penalty on the play).

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The lesson was jarring, and it was humbling, and it resounds all these months later, delivered by our ever-friendly and always-accommodating neighbors to the south. For one of the few times in recorded history, we can offer sincere thanks to the fair city of Philadelphia for showing us the way.

You will recall that the Phillies were doubly fortunate to even qualify for the baseball playoffs, taking advantage of the extra bid invented for the 2022 season and overcoming 5 ½ months of mostly uninspired baseball. But once they stamped their ticket, they adopted as their unofficial mantra the old New York Lottery slogan: Gotta be in it to win it.

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Grading the Giants’ 31-24 win over the Vikings in the NFC Wild Card round in Minnesota on Sunday.

Offense

This was a star turn from Daniel Jones. The ball was put in his hands and he passed it (24 of 35, 301 yards, 2 TDs) and ran with it (17-78) and moved the pile on two sneaks and did not turn it over. Brilliant stuff. Saquon Barkley was a bigger factor as a pass-catcher (5-56) than he was as a rusher (9-53), and he bowled over 325-pound DT Dalvin Tomlinson on his 2-yard TD plunge. WR Isaiah Hodgins (8-105) beat CB Patrick Peterson on a 14-yard TD in the first quarter and made a brilliant leaping catch on the game-winning drive. Darius Slayton (4-88) was a big-play target and he got to exhale after his huge fourth-quarter drop did not ultimately cost his team. Line allowed three sacks but gave Jones enough time. Lots of yards (431) and great efficiency (7 of 13) on third down and 2-for-2 on fourth down.

Grade: A+

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Steve Tisch made a surprise statement after the Giants’ wild-card win over the Vikings.

The Giants co-owner, who is normally in the background while other co-owner John Mara acts as the franchise’s public spokesperson, rarely makes comments about his team. But after Big Blue’s first playoff win in over a decade, a 31-24 victory over the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium, Tisch went forth to talk about how “proud” he is of the Giants.

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MINNEAPOLIS — Saquon Barkley’s first career playoff game was a good start toward the greatness he envisions. 

Used mostly as a complement to a passing attack that has been at its most aggressive all season in two matchups with the Vikings and Daniel Jones’ legs on zone-read runs, Barkley still made an impact with an almost-even rushing and receiving split of his 109 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns on his 14 touches in a 31-24 upset victory against the NFC’s No. 3 seed. 

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MINNEAPOLIS — The Super Bowl is in play now as a reachable, honest-to-God goal. If you are a Giants fan, nothing has ever sounded so completely crazy and perfectly reasonable at the same time. 

It’s crazy because this franchise is supposed to be in the first hours of a rebuild with a rookie head coach and a rookie general manager and a roster that was seemingly littered with more potholes than the Cross Bronx Expressway. 

It’s reasonable because the Giants just beat a 13-4 team in its own building in the first round of the playoffs, setting up a rematch with the top-seeded Eagles in Philadelphia, where the home team struggled to beat the Giants’ walk-ons last week. 

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Darius Slayton could have caused a lot less stress for Giants fans on Sunday.

During the fourth quarter of the team’s wild-card game against the Vikings, the Giants receiver ran a route while trying to convert on a third-and-15. Quarterback Daniel Jones threw the ball in Slayton’s direction, but the wideout bobbled it and dropped it instead.

Giants head coach Brian Daboll approached Slayton afterward on the sidelines, tapping the receiver’s chest in support. Daboll could be seen telling the distraught wideout, “We need you.”

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Giants outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari suffered a thigh bruise that caused him to exit the Giants' wild-card win early, he told The Post's Ryan Dunleavy.

The injury occurred on a trick play in the first quarter, when the Vikings attempted a double-pass sequence. Ojulari will undergo testing Monday.

Giants safety Jason Pinnock was carted off the field in the second half of Sunday’s wild-card win over the Vikings after suffering an injury on a kickoff return at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota.

Pinnock, a second-year pro, appeared to take a hit to the midsection while making a tackle. He was sitting up while carted off the field. Head coach Brian Daboll and “the rest of the defense was out there as he [Pinnock] went on the cart,” per The Athletic.

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Brian Daboll was quick to praise quarterback Daniel Jones in his press conference following the Giants' win. Jones, New York's fourth-year quarterback, completed 24-of-35 passes for 301 yards and a touchdown, while running for another 78 yards, in his postseason debut.

"I've said it all year: he's been good for us, continues to be good for us and he played a good game," Daboll told reporters. "I think there's a lot of other people that played good games, too, to help him play a good game. He'll be the first to admit it. But as the leader of our football team, I'm proud of him."

MINNEAPOLIS — A Giants season that was so unexpectedly fruitful continues to grow and prosper.

Once again carried by the ascending Daniel Jones, the Giants went into hostile territory and lit up the scoreboard. This was no defensive struggle, as so many Giants playoff games of yesteryear turned out to be. The Giants needed to keep pace with the prolific Vikings and Jones was up to the challenge.  He used his arms and his legs and guided his team to a frantic and pulsating 31-24 victory at ear-splitting U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday.

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This time, the Giants found a way to stop T.J. Hockenson.

Kirk Cousins completed a pass to his tight end on fourth-and-8, but Xavier McKinney tackled the tight end short of the first-down marker — a final defensive stop that allowed the Giants to secure a 31-24 victory over the Vikings, the NFC's No. 3 seed, and advance to the divisional round next weekend.

McKinney didn't play the last time these two teams met, still recovering from a bye-week ATV injury that sidelined the safety, but he led the Giants with eight tackles and one pass defended Sunday. It marked New York's first postseason win since Feb. 5, 2012, when it defeated the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. The Giants will travel to Philadelphia next weekend and face the Eagles.