GIANTS 27BILLS 24
It was not pretty, but the Giants somehow found a way to outlast a Buffalo Bills team that clearly outplayed them at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
The Giants couldn't tackle an ant yesterday as Fred Jackson ran for 121 yards and had a 168 all purpose yards in Buffalo's defeat. Jackson was a man possessed, breaking free from tacklers like The Flash. Jackson's 80 yard touchdown run tied the game at seven late in the first quarter and signaled this was to be a wacky game for Big Blue.
Late in the first quarter, the Giants spotty tackling continued to plague the team, as Ryan Fitzpatrick found Naaman Roosevelt on a slant, and the speedy receiver turned it up field for a 60 yard touchdown to give Buffalo a 14-7 lead.
When the Giants needed to make plays however, Eli Manning was able to make them. Midway through the second quarter, Manning's 22 yard pass to Jake Ballard, and his 60 yard bomb to Hakeem Nicks, set up Ahmad Bradshaw's second 1-yard touchdown run to give the Giants a 17-14 lead.
That lead wouldn't last long; Buffalo marched the ball down field, thanks to a few big runs by Jackson to get into field goal range for Ryan Lindell, who tied the game with a 49 yard field goal.
From there it seemed at times that the G-Men did everything they could to lose this game. On their first drive of the third quarter after Manning had completed four straight passes, Manning found Mario Manningham in the end z0ne for the touchdown, but it was reviewed and ruled that the wideout was down at the one yard line. The Giants got the touchdown anyway, on Bradshaw's third TD, but red flags were indeed out.
After Giants safety Corey Webster picked off a Hail Mary pass by Fitzgerald, the Giants couldn't move the football. Two striaght dreary incompletions, including a dropped pass by wide open Victor Cruz forced the Giants to kick a field goal; of course the kick by Lawrence Tynes was blocked, giving Buffalo renewed life.
Fitzpatrick moved the Bill methodically down field, highlighted by a 19 yard pass to Jackson. The drive culminated in a nine yard touchdown pass to an open Stevie Johnson to tie the game at 24.
After another ineffective Giants drive, the Bills got one last shot to win this game. Fitzpatrick hit three straight precision passes before hitting David Nelson for 32 yards to the Giants 27. It appeared that the Bills would score until Fitzpatrick's bomb to Stevie Johnson was picked off, again by Webster.
Manning was sloppy. Three incompletions could have cost the Giants dearly, but a clutch 30 yard run by Bradshaw, and a 15 yard penalty on Buffalo spotted the ball at the Bills five yard line. Then Manning did one of the dumbest things a quarterback can do: On third and five at the five, Manning dropped back to pass out of the shotgun and nearly threw an interception to Ledious McKelvin. McKelvin had the ball, but dropped it at the last second; if he held onto it, he had 90 yards of open field to run it back for a Bills touchdown.
Why was Manning throwing? Why were the Giants in a shotgun? These questions were not answered because the Giants won this game. After that stupid play, the Giants settled for the field goal to take a 27-24 lead.
The Bills got one last shot, but three incompletions by Fitzpatrick sealed the deal for the Giants.
It wasn't pretty, and Manning was not good. He had a lot of overthrows in this game, and a lot of bad incompletions including the near interception. Manning is killing this Giants team. On top of that the Giants defense is terrible. Sure, they can rush the passer, but with all of the injuries in the secondary, the Giants haven't been able to stop anyone.
Ironically, the Giants find themselves in first place, thanks to Philadelphia's 20-13 win at Washington; nevertheless, don't be fooled; this is NOT a good Giants football team. These guys are going nowhere.
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