Mark Bonifacio/New York Daily News
Happy time are here again! The Giants have not lost! Reuben Randle celebrates his touchdown in Big Blue’s 23-7 win over Minnesota Monday night.
It took seven weeks and an opponent that was even worse than the Giants. But at long last, Big Blue has its first win.
Thanks to a match made in Mediocrity Heaven, the season-opening six-game losing streak is over. On Monday night, the Giants defeated the dismal Minnesota Vikings, 23-7, at MetLife Stadium, in a game that was just as ugly as its two opponents, who entered the game with a combined winning percentage of .090. The Giants are now 1-6.
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Signed off the scrap heap, Peyton Hillis (r.) goes for a touchdown and a big spike in the third quarter.
Not that the Giants were dominant. Rueben Randle fumbled on a third-quarter punt return, and the turnover-prone Giants nearly handed the ball to Minnesota on five other occasions. Their rushing attack struggled even more with Brandon Jacobs sitting out with a hamstring injury. And their special teams managed to play even worse than it had all season, giving up its third punt return TD of the season, this one to an unknown named Marcus Sherels. It also surrendered a 69-yard kick return to Cordarrelle Patterson in the third quarter.
But Eli Manning was just good enough to win, throwing one TD pass, finally completing a game without a turnover, and easily outdoing new Vikings starting quarterback Josh Freeman, who completed 20-of-53 passes for 190 yards. And the Vikings handed the Giants the game, turning the ball over three times – including one fumble in which the MetLife Stadium was the best defender – never relying on game-breaking tailback Adrian Peterson (season-low 28 rushing yards), and practically handing the game away.
When Peyton Hillis barreled into the end zone from one yard out with 8:45 left in the third quarter, he gave the Giants a 17-7 edge and their first two-score lead of the season. The way the Vikings were playing, the game was essentially over.
Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News
Tom Coughlin claps on the sideline for possibly the first time this season.
Not that Hillis was finishing off some dramatic Giants drive; he was merely cashing in Minnesota’s strangest mistake of the game. The Giants held a scant 10-7 lead just moments earlier, when Steve Weatherford, on fourth-and-10 from his own 33 after a Giants three-and-out, had boomed a punt to Marcus Sherels, waiting at the Minnesota 10.
Sherels inexplicably fielded a punt that should have been fair caught, dashed forward, then tried to cut across the field, but as he did, he tripped over himself, coughing up the ball against the turf. Giants long-snapper Zak DeOssie alertly recovered the fumble at the Viking 3.
Two plays later, Hillis, signed just last Tuesday, and the Giants were on their well way to their first win, even if they’d made their share of mistakes in this one, too. Manning and the Giants certainly got off to a solid – if disappointing – start, chewing up 9:36 on the game’s opening possession, driving 68 yards on 17 plays. It was a drive that should have ended with a touchdown, but a diving Hakeem Nicks couldn’t hold onto Manning’s pass on third-and-3 from the Viking 16, and the Giants settled for a 35-yard Josh Brown field goal.
Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News
Eli Manning throws for 200 yards and, most importantly, no interceptions, despite a number of close calls.
When the Giant ‘D’ forced a quick Viking punt, things certainly looked good. But just four plays later, on the final play of the first quarter, Weatherford rocketed a punt to Sherels, waiting at the Viking 14. It was a solid punt, into a corner, outside the numbers, just as Tom Coughlin likes, but somehow, Sherels darted right, dashed back to the left, then raced down the sideline, practically toying with Weatherford (who tried to make the tackle and was called for a horse-collar penalty) as he finished off an 86-yard TD return that gave Minnesota a 7-3 lead.
But the Giants would battle back, regaining the lead with 9:34 in the second quarter, after a Nicks drew a pass interference penalty and set the Giants up with the ball at the Viking 24. On the next play, anning dropped back and threw a risky pass to Rueben Randle running down the left sideline, a pass that very easily could have been intercepted. Instead, a high-flying Randle reached around corner Chris Cook and got his hands on the ball, giving the Giants a 10-7 edge.
It was one of four Manning passes that could have been intercepted. But on this night.
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