Separating the G-men from the ‘Boys
It was a game we had to have.
With both teams coming in tied atop the NFC East, but the Dallas Cowboys holding a lead in the tie-breaker category by virtue of their Week 6 victory, the New York Giants were playing in their first meaningful game in the month of December in almost five years and needed this win at home.
They got it, defeating the Dallas 17-10, but not without allowing the game to get unnecessarily close.
The Giants (8-4) had four sacks, forced two fumbles -- including one that was returned for a touchdown by linebacker Antonio Pierce-- and intercepted Drew Bledsoe twice. The second interception, by Brent Alexander (pictured), came with 1:47 left in the game. Dallas (7-5) got the ball back one more time at its own 4-yard line, but lost the ball on downs after moving to the Giants 44.
New York won despite a shaky performance from quarterback Eli Manning, who was 12-for-31 for 152 yards and was intercepted twice by Dallas cornerback Aaron Glenn. Tiki Barber gained 115 yards on 30 carries for the Giants.
The G-men got on the board first, when rookie Brandon Jacobs capped a 12-play, 73-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Kicker Jay Feely, who missed three potentially game-winning field goals in last week’s loss to Seattle, received a huge cheer from the Giants Stadium crowd after his extra point and after a 27-yard field goal just before the half.
New York led 17-0 one play into the second half after Pierce scooped up a fumble by Bledsoe and returned it 12 yards for a score. But after that, the Giants’ offense went cold, while Dallas got hot and almost tied it up.
The Cowboys moved the ball to the Giants 16 before settling for a 34-yard field goal. They closed within a touchdown later in the third quarter when Glenn stepped in front of Plaxico Burress at the Giants 14 for his second interception of the game and returned it to the 7.
On the next play, Terry Glenn beat cornerback Curtis Deloatch on a fade pattern to make it 17-10.
Manning was intercepted later in the quarter by Keith Davis, but this time Glenn was the goat as his interference call on Burress nullified the penalty.
Feely clanged a 33-yard attempt off the goal post with 5:18 left in the game that would have given the Giants a 10-point lead, but the defense held on for the win and now, with four games remaining, the Giants have sole possession of first place in the NFC East.
Posted by bernie at December 4, 2005 6:45 PMTrackBack