EAST RUTHERFORD – When David Garrard faked out nearly half of the Giants defense and found his way into the end zone to give the Jaguars 17-6 going into the break, the fans at New Meadowlands Stadium had seen enough.
They vented their frustration, cascading thunderous boos from their pricey PSL’s on to the players, particularly the defense, as they would head into the locker room.
Led by an inspired halftime speech by defensive captain Justin Tuck, the Giants found a way, clamping down defensively and executing with precision despite limited weapons on offense to come from behind, ultimately pulling out a 24-20 victory to end a two-game losing streak.
“I thought our second half was outstanding and our guys came back,” said Head Coach Tom Coughlin.
In almost three weeks, the Giants went from NFC favorites to seeing potential meaningless games in December if they did not snap out it in those final 30 minutes.
The Giants rally from 11 points down in the second half was their largest come from behind victory of the season and biggest since September 2007 at Washington (14 points) allowing them to slip back into a first place tie with the Eagles by virtue of their loss at Chicago later in the afternoon.
“Coming from our two game losing streak, we really needed to win it with the race with the other teams for the top of the NFC,” said Brandon Jacobs.
Playing with the amount of losses on offense, Eli Manning found a way, directing the offense to two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter. The first came on a 26-yard strike to Mario Manningham and the game-winner, a 32-yard catch-and-run to Kevin Boss when the Jaguars sent an all-out blitz.
“It was a blitz they’d done before and it was kind of last minute,” said Eli Manning. “I just hit it to Boss and thought it might be that blitz zero.
“He saw it. He went up the field looking for the ball.”
The first 30 saw the Jaguars in total control and running all over the Giants defense at will. This was a shocker to anyone watching considering their number two rushing defense ranking in the NFL, allowing only 89 yards a game.
A combination of Maurice Jones-Drew, Rashad Jennings along with Garrard would gash their front to the tune of 145 yards, many of them coming due to poor gap-control and other times when defenders would lose contain.
“They did hurt us on the run and everyone in that locker room knew it at halftime,” said Coughlin.
The Giants own inability to score in the red zone during the first half help aided Jacksonville. In the first quarter, the offense stalled at the Jaguars 5, having to settle for a 22-yard field goal. It was the first time all season the offense scored points on their first possession.
Jacksonville quickly marched 75 yards in nine plays to answer with a touchdown and take the lead and got a 22-yard field goal by Josh Scobee to go up 10-3, as the defense appeared flat and uninspired.
Said Justin Tuck, “They did a great job of running the ball and keeping
us off balance as a defense.”
A second failure to convert in the red zone came because of a holding penalty on Boss nullifying a nine-yard touchdown reception by Manningham in the second quarter. This led to another field goal by Lawrence Tynes that the Jaguars would answer with 0:30 remaining in the half when Garrard found his way into the end zone.
On the play, the elusive Garrard rolled to his right and Osi Umenyiora appeared to have him for a sack but missed him. Garrard then reversed field, catching both Tuck and Jason-Pierre Paul out of position. Jonathan Goff was wiped out on a block allowing easy entrance into the end zone.
“He’s stronger. He’s a lot stronger than (Michael) Vick,” said Osi Umenyiora. “We got to him, but a couple times we weren’t able to wrap him up.”
Terrell Thomas intercepted Garrard on the first play of the third quarter to set the Giants up at the Jaguars 34. However, for the third time in the game, the offense was unable to convert in the red zone, having to settle for another Tynes field goal.
Forcing punts on Jacksonville’s next two possessions, Manning would direct the offense on a five-play, 88-yard drive ending with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham. Ahmad Bradshaw’s two-yard run on a two-point conversion tied the game at 17.
Said Coughlin, “That was an incredible play there.”
Jacksonville answered with a 42-yard field goal by Scobee to retake the lead. Later, the Giants defense would force a three-and-out and took over on their own 31 before embarking on their game winning scoring drive.
Manningham made a great scooping catch for 18 yards after Manning took a hit on blitz, followed by a knifing run of 18 yards by Brandon Jacobs, who got the start as Coughlin benched Bradshaw due to his continuous fumbling problems.
Jacobs finished the game with 87 yards on 14 carries.
On third-and-10, the Jaguars sent an all-out blitz and Manning found
Boss, who escaped a leg tackle by Courtney Greene and ran into the end zone.
“You’re kind of just hoping it’ll be close,” Manning said about the play.
“Maybe he’ll fall forward and get the first down. You’re not really thinking of a touchdown on that play. But sure enough, he did a good job.”
Garrard attempted to move his offense to the game winning score. However, Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell dialed up the blitz, getting sacks on three successive plays. The final one came when Thomas got a sack, forcing a fumble that Antrel Rolle would recover at the Jaguars 39 to seal the win.
“It was a complete team effort,” Tuck said. “Sometimes you just have to win some games ugly.”
For a team as desperate as this one was, they will take it any way they can.
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