Squeeze Stops Skid

The New York football Giants improved to 6-4 and just barely ended a four game losing skid Sunday in East Rutherford. New York outlasted the Atlanta Falcons 34-31 in overtime after surrendering a 14 point lead with six minutes left in the fourth quarter. Lawrence Tynes’ game-winning 36 yard field goal helped squeeze out the Giants’ first win since October 11th.
Quarterback, Eli Manning, had a career day but the Giants didn’t charge out of their bye week in glorious fashion at home. Manning tossed an interception on New York’s opening drive after a false start penalty and quarterback sack. Brent Grimes grabbed the pick for the Falcons and returned it for nine yards. Manning endured his ninth career 300 yard passing day, but just his first in Giants Stadium. Atlanta’s Matt Ryan threw two touchdowns and completed 26 of 49 passes, but the Falcons went three-and-out on their initial possession. New York was the only team lighting up the scoreboard in the first. Tynes legged a 39 yard field goal to put the home team up by three. The Big Blue kicker shanked a 31 yarder in the second quarter, and Atlanta scored on a seven yard run by Jason Snelling. The Falcon fullback was filling in for running back, Michael Turner. Snelling finished with 76 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
New York made it a three point game again seven minutes before halftime. Rookie receiver, Hakeem Nicks, hauled in a 30 yard pass before tight end, Kevin Boss scored down the right sideline. The Giants increased their lead a few minutes later. Falcons kicker, Jason Elam, missed a field goal and Big Blue tackle, Justin Tuck forced a fumble. Osi Umenyiora recovered the fumble that gave the Giants the ball at the Atlanta 34 yard line with a minute remaining. It took six plays for Manning to find Boss in the end zone again. Boss’ second snag, this time from four yards out, provided the home team a ten point halftime advantage.
Atlanta opened the second half with another Snelling score. Domenik Hixon returned the kickoff 19 yards to the New York 26 yard line. Atlanta’s defense was called for holding and pass interference following Manning’s 51 yard toss to Steve Smith. Brandon Jacobs, the stocky running back, restored New York’s ten point lead by scoring from two yards off Atlanta’s right defensive end. Ryan orchestrated a seven minute Atlanta drive with his team down 24-14. The Falcons settled for three points when Ryan failed to connect with Michael Jenkins and Tony Gonzalez. Elam’s kick from 25 yards was good just before the final quarter. New York fullback, Madison Hedgecock, started the fourth quarter on the right foot. Hedgecock caught a three yard pass from Manning with 12:16 left in the game. The 31-17 Giants lead appeared to be secure, but without defensive captain Antonio Peirce in the game, New York couldn’t hold the high flying Falcons.
Ryan hauled a touchdown to Eric Weems on a second down from the Giants four yard line with just over six minutes in regulation. It was Weems’ only reception of the game. The second year signal caller then marched the Falcons 76 yards on 12 plays. The end result was a Gonzalez touchdown reception for 11 yards, and a tie ball game in front of a stunned and shivering Meadowlands crowd. The Giants went three-and-out with .28 ticks on the clock to send the game into overtime. After winning the coin toss, New York broke the 31-31 tie when Tynes notched the final field goal. The final drive was highlighted by Mario Manningham’s 29 yard catch. Manningham is making tremendous strides for Big Blue this season. The former Michigan standout has four touchdowns and close to 500 yards in his sophomore season. He lead all players with 126 yards Sunday. Boss had five receptions and two touchdowns with 76 yards for the Giants. Gonzalez finished with 86 yards and Jenkins topped 76 to lead Atlanta receivers. Jacobs pounded out under 40 yards on the ground, but scored one touchdown. The running back did hurt his knee during the contest. The Giants are going to need a healthy Jacobs if the hope to be an explosive team in December. Tom Coughlin wasn’t so committed to the run during the first half. The Giants passed 24 times and ran only 13 in the first two quarters. It was nice to see Aaron Ross and Chase Blackburn make their season debuts. The defense needs to step up big time without Pierce in the mix. Sunday was a huge game for New York. It was just as critical for the Falcons, who fell to 5-5. The Giants will need at least three to four wins in their final six games to have a chance at the playoffs. Manning needs to be a controlled and efficient passer in order for New York to turn their season around. He began Sunday what could be the start of something good for the 2009 Giants.

Parting Points: Monday music- Backstreet Boys’ “As Long As You Love Me”
The Cowboys SO did not deserve to win yesterday after the Redskins outplayed them the entire game.
Congrats to the near-unanimous AL MVP, Joe Mauer.