New York Giants Game Recaps

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) -Rex Grossman completed 21 of 34 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns for Washington.

Making his first Week 1 start since 2007, Grossman justified - at least for a week - coach Mike Shanahan's decision to go with the veteran over John Beck after a quarterback competition that lasted the entire preseason.

Eli Manning went 18 for 32 for 268 yards for the Giants.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Eli Manning threw two touchdown passes and linebacker Michael Boley scored on a 65-yard fumble return to lead the New York Giants to a 28-16 victory over the mistake-prone St. Louis Rams on Monday night.

Manning hit Hakeem Nicks with a 3-yard TD pass and Domenik Hixon made a spectacular juggling grab on a 22-yard score as New York gave Tom Coughlin a win over Steve Spagnuolo in their first matchup since the one-time Giants defensive coordinator left to take over as coach of the Rams.

This one was ugly with mistakes by the Rams giving New York a much-needed win after a disappointing loss to Washington in the season opener.

Sam Bradford threw a touchdown pass and Josh Brown kicked three short field goals for the Rams, who moved up and down the field except in the red zone.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - With Michael Vick knocked out of another game, Eli Manning and the New York Giants wouldn't let the Philadelphia Eagles finish off their comeback.

Manning threw four touchdown passes, including two to Victor Cruz, and the Giants beat the Eagles 29-16.

Vick started despite suffering a concussion in last week's 35-31 loss at Atlanta. He left with a broken right hand in the fourth quarter after helping the Eagles overcome a 14-0 first-quarter deficit to take a 16-14 lead.

The Giants snapped a six-game losing streak against their division rivals.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Eli Manning threw two touchdown passes in a 58-second span late in the game to rally New York.

The scoring passes of 2 yards to Jake Ballard with 3:37 to go and 29 yards to Hakeem Nicks with 2:39 left came after the Cardinals seemingly had taken control of the game 27-17 on Beanie Wells' third rushing touchdown of the game with 5:16 to go.

Manning completed 7 of 8 for 126 yards on the decisive drives as the Giants won their third in a row. He finished 27 of 40 for 371 yards. Nicks caught 10 for 162 yards.

Wells rushed for a career-best 138 yards.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Backup quarterback Charlie Whitehurst threw a go-ahead 27-yard touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin, and Brandon Browner returned an interception 94 yards to clinch Seattle's win.

Whitehurst, who replaced the injured Tarvaris Jackson in the third quarter, led the Seahawks on an 80-yard TD drive, which he capped with his pass to a wide-open Baldwin with 2:37 left on a play that the Giants seemed to stop after defensive end Osi Umenyiora jumped offside.

The Giants, who had staged fourth-quarter rallies to win their last two games, mounted another late drive and had first-and-goal at the Seahawks 5 after consecutive completions of 41 and 19 yards to Victor Cruz.

A procedure penalty on first down pushed the ball back to the 10, then Eli Manning's pass tipped off Cruz's hands, bounced off Kam Chancelor and was picked off at the 6 by Browner.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 104 yards and a career-best three touchdowns and Lawrence Tynes kicked a go-ahead 23-yard field goal with 1:32 remaining for New York.

Bradshaw scored on three 1-yard runs and had a 30-yard run to help set up Tynes' winner as the Giants rebounded from a bad loss to Seattle by limiting the high-scoring Bills to seven second-half points.

Ryan Fitzpatrick (21 of 30 for 244 yards) threw touchdown passes of 60 yards to Naaman Roosevelt and 9 yards to Stevie Johnson, but his final attempt was batted down by Jason Pierre-Paul on a fourth-and-5 from the Bills 25 to preserve the win.

Fitzpatrick also was intercepted twice by Corey Webster, with the last starting the possession that led to the winning kick.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Eli Manning threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Victor Cruz with 5:58 to play to keep Miami winless.

Manning hit 31 of 45 passes for 345 yards and two touchdowns in rallying the Giants from an 11-point first-half deficit. Mario Manningham caught the other touchdown, a 7-yard play which got New York back into the game late in the first half.

Lawrence Tynes kicked two short field goals, and New York's defense got four sacks on the Dolphins' final two drives. Corey Webster iced it game with his third interception in the last two games.

Steve Slaton and Matt Moore (13 of 22 for 138) capped the Dolphins' first two drives with 1-yard runs.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) - Eli Manning hit Jake Ballard for a 1-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left, repeating a Giants' comeback victory similar to the 2008 Super Bowl between the teams.

The Giants won that one, 17-14, on Manning's 13-yard scoring pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds remaining. This time, it looked like the Patriots would win with a comeback of their own when Tom Brady threw a 14-yard scoring pass to Rob Gronkowski, making it 20-17 with 1:36 to go.

But the Giants had enough time to move 80 yards on eight plays - helped by a 20-yard pass interference penalty against the Patriots that put the ball at the 1 with 30 seconds to play. Three plays later, Manning found Ballard in the back left corner of the end zone.

Justin Smith batted down Eli Manning's pass in the closing seconds of a comeback try and San Francisco won its seventh straight game.

Manning completed a pair of long fourth-down passes and got the Giants down to the 10, but on fourth-and-2 with 1:51 left, Smith made a leaping right-handed smack of the ball.

In a game between division leaders, the 49ers didn't rely on Frank Gore, whose franchise-record streak of five straight games with 100 yards rushing ended with a knee injury.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Vince Young threw a go-ahead 8-yard touchdown pass to Riley Cooper with 2:45 to play and the undermanned Philadelphia Eagles finally got things right in the fourth quarter.

In what was a must-win game for Andy Reid's struggling team, the Eagles, who had lost five games in the fourth quarter earlier this season, marched 80 yards in 18 plays over 8:51. They converted six third-down plays, with DeSean Jackson setting up the first-and-goal with a 10-yard catch to the 10.

On third-and-goal, Young found Cooper, who hadn't caught a pass all season, alone in the end zone for the lead that gave the Eagles hope in what has been a dismal season.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Drew Brees passed for 363 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another score as the New Orleans Saints rolled to a 49-24 victory over the Giants, extending New York's losing skid to three games.

Tight end Jimmy Graham had five catches for 84 yards, including touchdowns of 5 and 29 yards. Brees' two other scoring strikes went to Lance Moore, who had five catches for 54 yards.

This was a game New York was desperate to win after losing its previous two to San Francisco and Philadelphia.

Instead, the Giants dropped a game behind first-place Dallas in the NFC East and face the possibility of a four-game losing streak when they host the unbeaten Green Bay Packers next weekend.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Aaron Rodgers engineered a last-minute drive to set up a 31-yard field goal by Mason Crosby on the final play of regulation, and the Green Bay Packers remained undefeated and clinched a playoff berth with a 38-35 victory over the New York Giants.

Rodgers hit three passes of more than 18 yards on the drive in the final 58 seconds as the Super Bowl champion Packers won their 18th straight game and handed the Giants their fourth straight loss.

New York tied the game on Eli Manning's 2-yard touchdown pass and a 2-point conversion run by D.J. Ware with just under a minute to play.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Eli Manning ended New York's four-game losing streak in style, leading the Giants to two touchdowns in the final 3:14 in a showdown for first place in the NFC East.

Dallas appeared to tie the game with a 47-yard field goal as time expired, but New York called a timeout. Given another chance to force overtime, rookie Dan Bailey's kick was blocked by Jason Pierre-Paul - who also had a sack for a safety and forced a fumble.

The Giants and Cowboys were tied atop the division, but this victory gave New York the inside track.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Rex Grossman threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Santana Moss and Washington hurt New York's playoff hopes.

Grossman threw a 20-yard scoring pass to Santana Moss, Darrel Young scored on a 6-yard run after one of three interceptions by the Redskins and Graham Gano kicked three field goals. It was Washington's second win in its last 10 games.

The loss knocked the Giants out of first place in the NFC East. Dallas took a one-game lead in the division with two to go, including one with Giants on the final weekend.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Victor Cruz set two franchise receiving records, and Ahmad Bradshaw ran for two touchdowns as the Giants kept their playoff hopes alive by winning the New York-area bragging rights with a 29-14 victory over the Jets on Saturday.

After a week of trash talk about who ruled the city, neither team did much to boast about. But the Giants did more than the Jets and can win the NFC East with a victory next week against Dallas.

Cruz, who had three catches for 164 yards, broke Amani Toomer's single-season mark for yards receiving - and the team's record for longest touchdown reception, a 99-yarder that gave the Giants the lead for good in the second quarter.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Eli Manning threw three touchdown passes and the New York Giants won an all-or-nothing game to claim the final spot in the NFL playoffs, beating the Dallas Cowboys 31-14.

The regular season went down to the last game, and it was coach Tom Coughlin's Giants (9-7) who won the NFC East and returned to the postseason for the first time since 2008.

The loss left Jerry Jones' Cowboys (8-8) out of the playoffs for the second straight year.

New York won three of its final four games and earned a wild-card home game against the Atlanta Falcons.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Eli Manning threw three touchdown passes and the New York Giants ran all over Atlanta in a 24-2 rout of the Falcons.

Manning, having his best pro season, connected with Hakeem Nicks for a 72-yard score and Mario Manningham on a 27-yarder as the Giants pulled away from the inept Falcons in the second half.

He also threw a 4-yard TD pass to Nicks in the first half, which came after the quarterback scrambled 14 yards to spark the 85-yard drive.

While Manning came through with touchdown passes, the tempo was set by New York's defense, which never allowed Atlanta to get going, and the league's lowest-ranked rushing game, which ran for a season-high 172 yards. Brandon Jacobs led the way with 92 yards on 14 carries.

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - Eli Manning threw three touchdown passes and the New York Giants shocked Green Bay 37-20. The Packers (15-2) might have been the reigning Super Bowl champs, but the Giants have been on a roll ever since beating the rival Jets on Dec. 24, beating the Dallas Cowboys to get in the playoffs and then blowing out Atlanta in the wild card round last week.

Manning, who threw for 330 yards, did the most damage with his throws to Hakeem Nicks, who caught seven passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns.

Aaron Rodgers was 26 of 46 for 264 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception. He also was the Packers' leading rusher with 66 yards on seven carries. But Green Bay had a handful of drops and lost three fumbles, including one on a rare giveaway by Rodgers. The Giants also sacked Rodgers four times.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Lawrence Tynes booted the Giants into the Super Bowl again.

Tynes kicked a winning 31-yard field goal in sudden-death overtime and New York beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in the NFC championship game to reach its second Super Bowl in five seasons.

Eli Manning and the Giants (12-7) will face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis, just as they did when they won it in 2008.

Tynes also kicked the game-winning field goal in overtime at Green Bay in the 2008 NFC title game that put the Giants in the Super Bowl.

Devon Thomas put the Giants in position. He recovered his second fumble of the game after Jacquian Williams stripped the ball from fill-in return man Kyle Williams.