The Giants have never been about “style points”. Bring up the fact that they won a game “ugly” and they will look at you as if you lack intelligence.
A win is a win in the National Football League and the World Champions will not apologize for it. Despite the 29-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers to push their record to 5-1 (tops in the NFC), even they know that they did not put together their best game, and will need it now that the meat of their schedule will began this Sunday in Pittsburgh against the Steelers.
San Francisco represented the final game of what many looked at the Giants final “preseason-regular season game”. The early part of the schedule represented what amounts to lower echelon competition. Early on, it appeared as if the 49ers were going to run over and have the game rendered non-competitive by halftime.
After the Niners opened the scoring with a 40-yard Joe Nedney field goal, the Giants offense took the ball on their second possession and marched 54 yards on four plays, capped off by Brandon Jacobs’ 26-yard touchdown run. On their next foray with the ball, they moved the ball 73 yards in eight plays, aided by three San Francisco penalties on defense. Again, Jacobs capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown to open the lead up 14-3.
For the second consecutive week, cornerback Aaron Ross found himself on the receiving end of another defensive breakdown. Ross was beaten on a deep ball thrown by 49ers quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan when he found rookie wide receiver Josh Morgan for a 30-yard touchdown pass. After playing arguably his worst game the previous week in Cleveland, Ross continued his slump. In the second half, he was subbed for Kevin Dockery, moving into the slot in Nickel packages.
That did not stop the rest of the defense from raising its level of play. Late in the first half, the unit finally created some turnovers. The first one came with 3:24 remaining when O’Sullivan rolled to his right and his pass intended for Josh Morgan was thrown right in the waiting arms of safety Michael Johnson, who returned the ball to the 49ers nine-yard line. This led to a Giants field goal to make it 17-10.
The second came as the 49ers were looking get points before the half. At the Giants 19 yard line, O’Sullivan was looking for receiver Arnaz Battle in the end zone. Instead, the ball found the ball found Johnson’s arms again in the end zone to turn them away.
New York’s defense did show holes, allowing seven passes of at least 13 yards or more until there was less than five minutes remaining in the game. Besides that, they were back to being dominant. Running back Frank Gore was limited to 11 yards on 11 carries; they forced three Niners turnovers and sacked O’Sullivan six times. On third down, they only converted two of 10 attempts.
In the third quarter, the Giants extended their lead to 21-10 on a six-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Plaxico Burress. They were attempting to put the game away with a field goal, when the 49ers came in and blocked John Carney’s try and cornerback Nate Clements return it 74 yards for a touchdown to trim the lead to 24-17. Suddenly, a game that looked to be a walk was now filled with agita.
While the offense continued to stumble in the second half, the defense slammed the door on the game shut. With 5:08 left in the game, O’Sullivan was pressured and sacked by Justin Tuck, lost the ball, and while it was rolling into the end zone for a potential Giants touchdown had they recovered, Josh Morgan kicked the ball out the end zone for a safety to make it 29-17 and preserved the teams fifth win of the season.
Without starting linebacker Antonio Pierce, backup Chase Blackburn played the game of his life, totaling 10 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. The offense, despite scoring 27 points themselves, did not play their best football. The swirling winds in the Meadowlands contributed to Manning’s (16 for 31, 161 yards, 1 TD) inconsistent day. Despite leading the NFL in rushing, the Giants only total 112 yards on the ground, with Jacobs held to only 69 yards on 17 carries.
Collectively, the team needs to play better as a whole as they head to Pittsburgh next week to play the Steelers, who are also 5-1. For today, the Giants simply add another victory in the “W” column next to their name.
The “real season” starts now.
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