What went right for the Giants ...
1 OT coin toss — The?Giants won the most important play in overtime, then drove 49 yards to set up Lawrence Tynes’ game-winning 36-yard field. “It’s nice to win. We were miserable for a month,”?coach Tom?Coughlin said.
2 Career day — Eli Manning threw for a career-high 384 yards and three touchdowns as the Giants snapped a four-game losing streak. “It has been a long time,”?Manning said. “It had been 42 days since our last win. It has felt like it, too.” It was the first time Manning threw for more than 300 yards in Giants Stadium and they needed every bit. The ground game mustered just 88 yards.
3 Cashing in — The Giants went 3-for-5 in the red zone, including a 4-yard reception by Kevin Boss on a shallow crossing route to put the Giants up 10 before half. Boss also had a 28-yard yard score and finished with five receptions for 76 yards. “I knew I had a couple of plays that might be coming my way,” the tight end said. “It would have been nice if we could have finished them off earlier.”
What went wrong …
1 Almost blowing it — The Giants’ defense, which was without linebacker Antonio Pierce, blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. The Falcons scored on all four second-half possessions (24 points), including a game-tying touchdown from Matt Ryan to Tony Gonzalez with 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
2 Still a burner in the backfield — Michael Turner was out with an injury, so was his backup, Jerious Norwood. That left Atlanta with little-used Jason Snelling, who played a big part in keeping this one close. Snelling averaged just three yards per carry, but he had two scores and kept the defense honest, giving quarterback Matt Ryan time to pick apart the weak secondary.
3 Light legs — Lawrence Tynes made the game-winner, but the veteran missed a 31-yarder in the second quarter that came back to haunt his team. Meanwhile, Brandon Jacobs left in the third quarter with an injured right leg and did not return. That could certainly hurt the Giants on short rest.
