Manning is certainly no stranger to winning before the bye. Sunday’s victory marks the fifth time in seven tries that he’s led his team to victory heading into the week off.
Naturally Tom Coughlin, now 6-2 with the Giants heading into the bye week, echoed his quarterback’ comments yet still had a little higher goal in mind. Said the head coach, “I would like to be 6-0, but this is a hard-earned win. To be 4-2 right now and have the bye and to be an optimist if I may, maybe we do get some guys back after this two-week period.”
The players he was referring to would most likely be running back Brandon Jacobs and defensive end Justin Tuck.
Jacobs, still unable to play with his seemingly out-of-nowhere knee problem, was a big help to his platoon-partner Ahmad Bradshaw on the sidelines Sunday. Said Bradshaw, “Oh man, he is my big brother—I look up to him and we help each other.”
Bradshaw was big himself Sunday for New York going for 104 yards on the ground with three touchdowns. His 30-yard scamper was the key play in the Giants’ game-winning drive. Said Bradshaw of the run, “It split wide open and Mario Manningham came on a block on the safety, I was able to make the corner miss, and just tried to use my speed from there.”
Meanwhile defensive ends Jason Pierre-Paul and Osi Umenyiora have continued to keep constant pressure on the quarterbacks while fellow end Justin Tuck is sidelined.
Pierre-Paul was credited with a sack, two hits on the quarterback and the game-clinching pass deflection on a fourth-down-and-five for Buffalo with 59 seconds remaining. The sack puts him at seven-and-a-half on the season already, good for second in the NFL, for the emerging star out of South Florida.
Meanwhile Umenyiora’s sack on Sunday already gave him five on the season, good for sixth in the league, despite missing the first three games.
As good as the two pass-rushers were yesterday though, the star of the game was of course cornerback Corey Webster thanks to his two interceptions.
Both picks were crucial but his second—coming deep in Giant’s territory in a tie game with just over four minutes left—changed momentum completely. Buffalo was already in field-goal range and the under-thrown pass—had it been completed—would have put them in business inside the five-yard line.
Said Webster of Buffalo’s intended play, “They ran it a couple of times. They were working on the back side, three by one, read a slant, back shoulder fade.”
Instead his pick and the resulting face-masking on Bills’ receiver Steve Johnson put the ball at the Giants own 19. Three plays later Bradshaw put them into Buffalo territory and Lawrence Tynes kicked the game-winning 23-yard field goal.
Tynes’ field goal was his second of the day in three tries after having the second one blocked. Said Coughlin regarding the faulty protection, “We’re going to grind it out with our field goal protection and try to do a better job there as we go forward here.”
Though somewhat inconsequential to the game as it turned out Coughlin, who led the Giants to four playoff appearances, surely knows special teams proficiency can be the difference between a 6-0 and 4-2.
