New York Giants: 3 Observations vs. Tampa Bay in Week 11
The New York Giants have won two games in a row following their 38-35 victory over Tampa Bay Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Here are three observations from that contest.
The New York Giants extended their modest winning streak to two games with a 38-35 triumph over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
The G-Men are now 3-7, but still face a long road ahead to get back into the race for the NFC East crown. The Bucs slipped to 3-7.
Here are a trio of observations from this game:
1. Near Collapse
Led by fabulous rookie Saquon Barkley (a career-high 142 rushing yards, three total touchdowns), Big Blue built a 31-14 lead early in the fourth quarter, but nearly blew it. Jameis Winston came off the bench for Tampa Bay for an ineffective Ryan Fitzpatrick (the magic is gone) and tossed a pair of fourth quarter touchdown passes to nearly pull the game out for the beleaguered Bucs.
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A loss to one of the worst defensive squads in the league would have been a bitter pill to swallow for the Giants. Sure, the odds are the severely stacked against the G-Men making any sort of playoff push after their brutal start to the 2018 campaign.
This victory, although far from easy, gives New York a boost of confidence as they head into their clash with the Eagles in Philadelphia this coming Sunday. Let’s face it — a loss after owning a huge lead would have been a complete embarrassment to the organization as a whole. Luckily, Big Blue avoided that dubious distinction.
2. How about that D?
What kind of impact could New York’s defensive unit have made by giving up 35 points? Actually, they made a huge impact. The G-Men recorded four interceptions, one returned by Alec Ogletree 15 yards for a touchdown. They even registered their first sack in three weeks (Kareem Martin). Sure, there were issues; they allowed 510 total yards and 31 first downs, way too many in any game. That was unacceptable.
However, without forcing those four turnovers, the Giants would not have captured this high-scoring battle. On the flip side, Big Blue took care of the football with no turnovers on their side of the ball. Teams that accomplish that usually always win.
3. The old man can still sling it
Eli Manning has now fired five touchdown passes with no interceptions during New York’s modest winning streak. Against Tampa Bay, the future Hall of Famer enjoyed his most accurate passing game ever with 17 completions in 18 attempts for 231 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
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He was sacked four times but he hung in the pocket well, stepped up and delivered the football to his key receivers like Odell Beckham Jr. (four receptions for 74 yards, one touchdown).
Manning is well past his prime but he has been performing at a higher level lately. One of the reasons why is because he faced the 49ers and Bucs in his last two outings but his performance level shows that the old man can still sling it — he hasn’t lost his fastball quite yet.