Jeremy Shockey
Last week, it was a sack extravaganza. This time, the New York Giants' defence did it with interceptions.
FULL STORY...
Team Report
as of Tuesday, October 09, 2007 4:51 PM.
(Sports Network) - After playing a deplorable first half of football, the New York Giants went into intermission of Sunday's battle with their fellow Meadowlands tenants, the New York Jets, staring at a 10-point deficit. Big Blue then came out of the locker room a much more focused and proficient unit, and put together a near-flawless performance over the final two quarters that paved the way for a 35-24 comeback victory.
Sound familiar? It should, since the Giants came through in a remarkably similar scenario just two weeks prior at Washington's FedEx Field. On that afternoon, Tom Coughlin's charges outscored the Redskins 21-0 in the second half to rally for a thrilling 24-17 decision.
There were plenty of parallels to draw from in each of those victories. Both first halves ended on field goals by the Giants' opponent as a direct result of an ill-advised interception thrown by quarterback Eli Manning, who would regroup and lead his team to a touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter on both occasions.
The Giants' go-ahead touchdown in both games would come via a dazzling individual play by Plaxico Burress during the fourth quarter. Against Washington, the star wide receiver caught a short pass from Manning and weaved his way through the Redskin defense for a nifty 33-yard score. In Sunday's win, Burress took in another short-range offering from Manning, then delivered a nasty stiff-arm to Jets cornerback Andre Dyson before sprinting down the left sideline for a 53-yard touchdown that gave the Giants a 28-24 lead with 7:52 to play.
And let's not forget about the Giants defense, which shut down the Redskins and Jets in the second half and sealed each victory with big plays. The group put forth a determined goal-line stand in the final seconds to preserve the Washington win, while rookie corner Aaron Ross put the Jets game out of reach with a 43-yard interception return late in the fourth quarter.
It was the third consecutive strong effort from the defense, which matched an NFL single-game record with 12 sacks in last week's 16-3 triumph over Philadelphia. Although the Giants didn't produce such gaudy totals on Sunday. they applied enough pressure to force Jets quarterback Chad Pennington into three interceptions.
The Giants also held their city rivals to only 87 total yards and five first downs in the second half, while giving up only one defensive touchdown for the game. The Jets' other two scores came on a fumble return and a 98-yard kickoff runback by Leon Washington.
"We had to answer the call," said linebacker Kawika Mitchell. "They scored on defense and they scored on special teams. We had to make our own plays out there. We came up on defense and made some big ones."
Manning also stepped up his play following a horrible first half in which the former No. 1 overall pick compiled a quarterback rating of zero. After completing just 3-of-10 throws for a mere 22 yards with an interception over the first 30 minutes, Manning went 12-for-15 for 164 yards with two touchdown strikes in the second half.
That up-and-down showing has typified the Giants' season so far. The team has shown a lot of resiliency with its two comeback wins and in fighting back from an 0-2 start to the year, but it's also yet to deliver a complete performance in all phases of the game for a full 60 minutes.
"We kind of play when we have to and it shouldn't be that way all the time," said Burress. "We need to come out and have that (second half) attitude from the start, not just when we need to play."
A BIG LIFT
Running back Brandon Jacobs proved to be fully recovered from the right knee sprain which forced him to miss the Giants' last three games. The powerful third-year pro established career highs of 100 yards and 20 carries against the Jets, and brought the G-Men within 17-14 with a bruising 19-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter.
Jacobs' excellent afternoon didn't start out so well, however. On his second carry of the day, the 25-year-old was stripped of the football by Jets safety Kerry Rhodes, who then scooped up the fumble and returned it 11 yards for the game's opening score.
"At some point in that game I knew I was going to fumble, because I wasn't used to carrying the ball," Jacobs remarked. "I hadn't carried it in three weeks. So when it came, I'm glad I got it out of my system. After that play I felt like I owed my teammates. I also felt I owed my teammates with being absent for the last three weeks."
Jacobs rebounded with 70 second-half yards on the ground and became the first Giant other than the now-retired Tiki Barber to eclipse the century mark since Ron Dayne ran for 111 yards against New Orleans on September 30, 2001.
I'LL MAKE IT UP TO YOU
Ross had two of the Giants' three interceptions on Sunday despite sitting out the entire first half as punishment for violating an unspecified team rule. The talented rookie also thwarted a potential Jets scoring drive with a leaping grab of a poorly-thrown Pennington pass at the Giants' two-yard line early in the fourth quarter. Manning and Burress would connect for the go- ahead touchdown on the ensuing possession.
The 2007 first-round pick also broke up three passes in his limited action.
"I was very pleased that he came back and played the way he did in the second half," said Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, who refused to comment on the reasons for Ross' suspension.
Ross, who was inserted into the starting lineup prior to last week's victory over the Eagles, was replaced by regular nickel back Kevin Dockery at left corner.
GEORGIA ON MY MIND
The Giants will head south this coming weekend for a matchup with the 1-4 Atlanta Falcons. New York will be seeking a seventh consecutive victory as the visitor in this series, which includes a 27-14 win at the Georgia Dome in Week 6 of last season. The Giants' last loss in Atlanta came all the way back in 1978, when the team dropped a 23-20 decision at the old Fulton County Stadium.
Atlanta opened this season with three straight losses before giving new head coach Bobby Petrino his first career NFL victory with a 26-16 triumph over Houston in Week 5. The Falcons were handed a 20-13 loss at Tennessee this past Sunday, the club's third straight defeat of seven or less points.