Sports News
Giants Overcome Big Plays to Beat Bills
All week long, the New York Giants had to hear about the embarrassing loss to the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday.
For one half, the defense did little to quell the concern among the Big Blue faithful. The Bills scored two long touchdowns in the first quarter, and for a time it looked like the Giants would not be able to stop Ryan Fitzpatrick and Fred Jackson.
Yet in the end it was the defense that came to the rescue, boosted by two Corey Webster interceptions, as the Giants improved to 4-2 and settled into first place in the NFC East heading into the bye week.
Buffalo scored twice in the first quarter, first on an 80-yard touchdown run from Jackson, and then on a 60 -yard touchdown pass from Fitzpatrick to Naaman Roosevelt.
But the Giants, who had scored the first touchdown on a one-yard run from Ahmad Bradshaw, went into halftime tied at 17 after Bradshaw scored again in the second quarter.
Bradshaw finished the day with three scores and 104 yards on the ground, vindicating the Giants' conviction to commit to the run against the Bills. Eli Manning completed 21 of his 32 pass attempts for 292 yards, and, perhaps most importantly, did not throw an interception.
The Giants led 24-17 after Bradshaw's third touchdown run, but the Bills answered with 9 minutes left in the game on a touchdown pass from Fitzpatrick to Steve Johnson.
Buffalo started driving for the go-ahead score toward the end of the game, but Webster picked off Fitzpatrick for the second time, and the Giants began the game-winning drive at their own 20.
Bradshaw broke a 30-yard run on the final drive, and aided by two pass interference penalties on Buffalo, the Giants set up Lawrence Tynes for a 23-yard field goal, which gave the G-Men a three point lead with 1:32 to go.
The Bills struggled to move the ball on their final possession, and the Giants held on for the win.
The feeling among Giants fans is no doubt more positive than the feeling last week, but a quick glance at the remaining schedule for the Giants may temper enthusiasm. Big Blue still plays games against New England, San Francisco, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Green Bay and the Jets in the final 10 games.
Still, it's always a better feeling to head into the bye-week coming off a win, rather than sitting on a loss for two weeks. In that regard, it was mission accomplished for the Giants on Sunday.
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Photo credit: Andrew Mills, The Star-Ledger
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