New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning poses for a photo with a cadet during a pre-game, Sept. 19, prior to the kick-off of Monday Night Football
Photo courtesy of Tommy Gilligan/West Point Public Affairs
The New York Giants made an incredible comeback victory against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night to continue their winning streak and improve to 3-2 this season. The past couple of weeks have been looking up for the Giants, especially in the NFC division.
While it’s always competitive in their division playing against the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins, the Giants have survived and are leading the division in wins. The Giants have also been pushing themselves to their fullest potential and are more aggressive than we’ve seen in awhile. Everything has been going in the right direction, they just have to continue to be consistent and strive to be the best.
Clearly, the Giants have had their struggles this season, but they always seem to overcome them. First, it was time management. Then, it was play calling, injuries, turnovers and lastly penalties. Nevertheless, head coach Tom Coughlin has tried to rally his team and work on improving these flaws at practice. It is important for NFL coaches to work on the little mistakes because, later in the season, those little issues will add up and majorly affect the team. Coughlin is a two-time Super Bowl head coach who knows from experience how to put the team’s flaws behind them with one goal in mind: to win.
Last week was an entertaining matchup until the very end of the game. The Giants were looking to win their third consecutive game against the 49ers on Sunday night in MetLife Stadium. In a tight game from beginning to end, the Giants were on top for most of the game until the 4th quarter. Colin Kaepernick had a game-saving touchdown pass with 11 minutes left in the game to make the score 20-23.
The Giants had a poor play selection and nearly turned the ball over before punting it back to the 49ers. Under pressure, the Giants’ defense gave up a go ahead touchdown to Carlos Hyde to give the 49ers a 27-23 lead. When Manning and the offense had the ball with under two minutes left, it was the G-men who needed to score or go home with the loss. Manning made a deep pass to Odell Beckham Jr. in the end zone that drew a pass interference penalty.
With 21 seconds left, Manning dropped back under pressure and threw a strike down into the end zone to Larry Donnell to score the game-winning touchdown.
The Giants’ defense stepped up and forced bad passes to come up with the major victory this past week.
The Giants have some difficult games coming up against the Cowboys, Patriots, Jets and Eagles.
Although the Giants lost several games in their first two weeks, they are looking to keep their hot streak alive with a critical game against one of their all-time rivals, the Eagles. It’s going to be a very intense game with the fast-paced Chip Kelly offense versus the Giants’ strong and efficient offense.
Both teams have been waiting to face one another in the game that will decide a major part of the season. If the Eagles win, they have a chance to claim the right to first place. If they lose, then they will have a difficult time catching up in the division from such a loss. However, the Giants are in a similar situation and must win. If they lose, they fall a little in the division, but, with a win, they have potential to take a major leap ahead of their competition in the NFC East.
It’s a must-see duel between the Eagles and Giants on Monday night in Philadelphia, Pa. This is looking to be a close and hard-fought game that you’re not going to want to leave your seat for.
