Giants edge Titans late in East Rutherford, 34-31
In a game punctutated by big offensive plays and costly turnovers, the Giants would take the lead in the final minute of the game to win at home over Tennessee. Both teams would have a 160+ yard rusher and both would benefit from big plays in the final minute of the halves with the Titans reaching the end zone twice within the end of the first and the Giants defensive stop and winning score to close the second.
While the Giants would eventually trail at halftime, 31-17, Big Blue would open the scoring on their third play from scrimmage.
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The Giants would end up with one TD each quarter including this second quarter pass to TE Travis Beckum.
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However, the Giants defense was giving up yards in bunches as Chris Johnson would break off long scores while running for 175 yards on 16 carries on the day. This would prove costly for New York when Eli Manning would throw an interception within the final minute of the half, with Johnson turning a 7 point lead into a 14 point bulge.
Coming out of halftime, the Giants faced an uphill battle, but defensive adjustments and a better job of protecting the football by the offense would allow the Giants to climb back in the game. The Giants would climb within 4 points after the following third quarter TD run by Jacobs and a fourth quarter FG.
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Benefiting from one of two interceptions in the half, the Giants would drive into Tennessee territory before facing 4th and short just before the two-minute warning. Going against the intended screen play, Eli instead would target big TE Kevin Boss but he could not hold on to the ball after a Titan's defender closed the gap with unexpected quickness.
Having seen their team find ways to lose close games late often of late, Giants fans held out little hope that the that offense would get another opportunity to take the field. But helped by the warning and two timeouts, the Giants defense would step up and force the three and out, giving the Giants one last chance with a minute and a half to work with. Still down 4 and needing the TD, Eli Manning tried for the home run pass and after a crucial drop found his offense again facing fourth down with 10 yards to go for the first. As fate would have it, he would again target Boss and this time the big man would come through.
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With a new set of downs, the offense found what it needed after one more huge play on a Manning scramble that would set up a first and goal from the 1. Jacobs would punch in the final score to put the G-men up 3 with less than a minute to go and the defense would hold on the final Titans possession.
Thanks, Todd, for the great game. The stats sheet indicated a game that was pretty evenly played throughout, with the bulk of the breaks going your way in the first half and mine in the second. Good luck the rest of the way...
