The New York Giants needed the entire first quarter to warm up before their offense took control of Sunday’s afternoon game against the Cleveland Browns, winning their third game of the season, 41-27.
It took the Giants an interception by safety Stevie Brown in the second quarter with 6:49 remaining to jumpstart the Giants. Brown intercepted quarterback Brandon Weeden and returned it for 46 yards. The interception led to a touchdown by running back Ahmad Bradshaw tying the game at 17 apiece.
“We should start games at a deficit because it seems to get us woken up and starting to play. That play [the interception] was a huge momentum shift for us. He made a great play on the ball and returned it to back to a position where our offense could punch it in and that kind of got us rolling,” defensive end Justin Tuck said.
Brown continued to shine as he recovered a Cleveland fumble at the 29 yard line. Quarterback Eli Manning and wide receiver Victor Cruz connected once more for a 7-yard touchdown, resulting in the Giants highest scoring second quarter since 2004 with a total of 17 points.
“Yeah, we just didn’t finish it. We didn’t finish it. We jumped out, our goal was to start fast, and we did that. The last three or four minutes in the first half was probably the worst three minutes of football of the year. One thing compounded after another, and you can’t do that. Against a team like that, you can’t do that. You have to continue to fight and not give them extra opportunities, and we did that today,” Weeden said in the post game interview.
The Giants started the game slow at Metlife Stadium as the Browns and Weeden quickly attacked the Giants defense. Weeden started off the game strong as he connected with running back Trent Richardson and wide receiver Josh Gordon for touchdowns within the first five minutes of the game. The Giants put up their first touchdown, connecting with Cruz in the end zone with under four minutes left in the first quarter, trailing the Browns 14-7.
After the high scoring second quarter, the Giants continued to dominate as the Browns headed to their fifth loss of the season. Manning continued to go to Cruz, resulting in their third touchdown together in the third quarter. Cruz finished the night with five receptions for 50 yards. The Browns countered with a field goal, trailing 34-20. The fourth quarter saw more action as the Giants scored their fifth touchdown of the day. Manning connected with rookie running back David Wilson, who rushed 40 yards to his first touchdown of his professional career, and his first back flip of the year.
The Browns did not have enough steam left to challenge the Giants. Manning finished the game 25 for 37 with 259 yards. Bradshaw also had a stellar game rushing 200 yards. Bradshaw’s performance did not go unnoticed.
“I mean coming off the first carry and fumbling like that – a lesser running back would have kind of gone in the tank. But Bradshaw is one of those guys that’s very strong physically and mentally, and he’s a tough back, so we knew he would bounce back. And they opened up some holes for him and got him going and I think this was probably one of his biggest days in a Giants uniform so we’re proud of that guy for bouncing back and helping us get a win today,” Tuck commented.
The Giants will travel to Candlestick Park to take on the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday at 4:25PM.
