NFL 2011 - Giants Bend-But-Don't Break Defense Beats Rams

Giants Bend-But-Don't Break Defense Beats Rams
John Nestor

East Rutherford, NJ

On a night when Lawrence Taylor and the Super Bowl winning 1986 New York Giants were honored the current Giants turned to their defense to pull out an ugly win.

With quarterback Eli Manning looking out of sorts for much of the game, the Giants got a defensive touchdown and some bend-but-don't-break defense in a 28-16 victory Monday night over the St. Louis Rams.

The Rams were able to move the ball up and down the field and gave the Giants problems with their no-huddle offense, but when it counted the New York D stiffened.

The Rams drove inside the Giants 20 four times but had to kick field goals each of the first three times before finally scoring a touchdown with 1:18 left in the third for the final points of the game.

With St. Louis running back Steven Jackson out with a quad injury, the New York defense was able to shut down the Rams running game, allowing just 59 yards on the ground.

New York's biggest play came on a backwards-pass-turned-fumble that linebacker Michael Boley picked up and ran back 65 yards for a Giants TD.

Instead of taking the lead, the Rams were instead down 14-6 after Boley's return despite dominating the first two quarters statistically.

"Boley's play was tremendous," Giants defensive captain Justin Tuck said. "I've seen that happen a lot of times where guys just leave the ball there and think it's an incomplete pass."

The Giants did allow Rams quarterback Sam Bradford to throw for 331 yards but he was just 22-of-46, handicapped by his team's inability to run the ball.

The return of Tuck also contributed to the Giants' defense as he had 1 1/2 sacks after missing the season-opening loss at Washington with a neck injury.

"The thing I liked about what we did tonight was we showed resiliency," said Tuck. "In a lot of those situations, if they get touchdowns, that score is a lot different."

NFL 2011 Week 2 Results

Bills (2-0) 38, Raiders (1-1) 35
Broncos (1-1) 24, Bengals (1-1) 22
Browns (1-1) 27, Colts (0-2) 19
Buccaneers (1-1) 24, Vikings (0-2) 20
Cowboys (1-1) 27, 49ers (1-1) 24
Falcons (1-1) 35, Eagles (1-1) 31
Jets (2-0) 32, Jaguars (1-1) 3
Lions (2-0) 48, Chiefs (0-2) 3
Packers (2-0) 30, Panthers (0-2) 23
Patriots (2-0) 35, Chargers (1-1) 21
Redskins (2-0) 22, Cardinals (1-1) 21
Saints (1-1) 30, Bears (1-1) 13
Steelers (1-1) 24, Seahawks (0-2) 0
Texans (2-0) 23, Dolphins (0-2) 13
Titans (1-1) 26, Ravens (1-1) 13
Giants (1-1) 28, Rams (0-2) 16

NFL 2011 Week 1 Results

GREEN BAY 42, New Orleans 34
Detroit 27, TAMPA BAY 20
ARIZONA 28, Carolina 21
SAN DIEGO 24, Minnesota 17
BALTIMORE 35, Pittsburgh 7
SAN FRANCISCO 33, Seattle 17
CHICAGO 30, Atlanta 12
WASHINGTON 28, NY Giants 14
Cincinnati 27, CLEVELAND 17
NY JETS 27, Dallas 24
HOUSTON 34, Indianapolis 7
JACKSONVILLE 16, Tennessee 14
Buffalo 41, KANSAS CITY 7
New England 38, MIAMI 24
Philadelphia 31, ST. LOUIS 13
Oakland 23, DENVER 20