The Bucs would make it interesting late, however. It took Freeman just 2 minutes and 5 plays to drive 80 yards for the tying score. Three of those were to former Colts tight end Dallas Clark, which forced the Giants to tighten up coverage in the middle of the field. Then Freeman struck, targeting receiver Mike Williams deep. The lengthy receiver hauled in the 41 yard pass for the touchdown.
Again on the play, the Giants left a cornerback that would normally be buried on the depth chart on isolation coverage. This time it was Justin Tryon, who even with the injuries is 4th on the depth chart, with no safety support, and again Josh Freeman made Perry Fewell’s defense pay with a big play.
But Manning was not quite finished. First he hit Ramses Barden for 24 yards. Then he found Nicks for 50 to give the Giants the ball at the 11 yard line. With 80 seconds and only one timeout left, the Bucs elected to allow Andre Brown to score, much like the Patriots did for Bradshaw’s winning score late in the Giants’ Super Bowl victory.
Unlike Bradshaw, however, Brown was able to stop himself, allowing the Giants to take more time off the clock. He scored on the next play to take a 41-34 lead. The Bucs got down to the Giants’ 45 yard line before Michael Boley picked off a pass to seal the victory, his second interception in as many weeks. With the Cowboys and Redskins losing, it was a big victory for the Giants to keep pace in the NFC East, which is currently led by the Philadelphia Eagles on the backs of 2 one point victories on late Michael Vick game winning drives.
There were a few key items of note from the game. On the negative side, the team took a few injuries during the game. Bradshaw and Diehl both left the game due to their injuries and did not return. They both will undergo MRIs to determine the extent of their neck and knee injuries, respectively. In addition, receiver Domenik Hixon left after taking a hit to the head.
On a positive note, however, Eli Manning joined the 500 club for the first time of his career, throwing for 510 yards—the third Giants QB to do so, the other 2 being Phil Simms and Y.A. Tittle. In addition, the Giants became the first team in NFL history to have two receivers record 10 receptions for at least 175 yards in the same game. Nicks had 199 yards on 10 receptions, while Cruz had 179 yards on 11 receptions. Each also had a touchdown. They are tied atop the leaderboard for receiving yards league-wide after two weeks with 237.
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