Giants Run Over Vikings on a Long Strange Trip

In another must win to keep pace with the Eagles, the Giants were in control almost the entire game. The Giants won their third straight game and improved to 9-4 to remain tied with the Eagles atop the NFC East before the bitter rivals clash Sunday at New Meadowlands Stadium. In a road trip game that never made it to Minneapolis due to weather, made a detour in Kansas City and was prolonged because the snow-covered Metrodome roof collapsed, ended the way the Giants wanted and needed it to end, with a 21-3 win. They didn’t get to face Brett Favre, who ended his consecutive game starting streak at 297 straight games because of a sprained right shoulder. In a game that history will remember as the night Brett Favre did not play, the Giants survived two early Eli Manning interceptions with some tough breakout running from Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. They played punishing defense all evening in front of a crowd of 45,901 in Detroit, mostly Lions fans that got in for free. Favre’s replacement, Tarvaris Jackson, will always be an answer to a trivia question and probably not much else. The Giants run defense completely shut down Adrian Peterson, holding him to 26 yards on 14 carries. They pounded away at Jackson, sacking him four times and briefly knocking him out of the game with a toe injury.

Manning wasn’t sharp, even though receivers Hakeem Nicks and Steve Smith returned from injuries. He threw two picks before putting any points on the board. Manning did throw a touchdown pass to Kevin Boss, but this was another smashmouth ground game for the G-men. Brandon Jacobs rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, including a career long 73 yard run. Ahmad Bradshaw added 103 yards on 11 carries, and helped by a Bear Pascoe block, broke free on a 48 yard scoring run. The Giants ran for 213 yards on the NFL’s fourth ranked run defense.

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This scene was anything but normal and usual for an NFL game, as this was a neutral site for both teams. Both teams were booed when they came out for pre-game introductions. This was an official Vikings home game and all the graphics on the message boards were controlled by the Vikings and the famous Vikings horn sounded early and often. The loudest the crowd got was in the second quarter, when a version of the wave started. They hit their peak with a chant of “Let’s Go Lions!” when the Vikings had the ball, followed by boos when the message boards said “Quiet please, offense at work.”

Despite “A Long Strange Trip,” to quote Jerry Garcia, the Giants endured and prevailed with an important win.

Next game, Home Sweet Home vs. the Eagles.

By: Mitchell D. Schlau
ProFootball-fans.com New York Giants Correspondent