The New York Giants almost found a way to lose to the 49ers, but the defense stepped up in a big way to give the G Men their fifth victory of the season. The Giants won 29-17 in an ugly game played on the first cold day of football in the Meadowlands. Eli Manning managed the game while Brandon Jacobs roughed up the 49ers front seven with two touchdowns on seventeen carries. J.T. O'Sullivan had his worst outing of the year with two interceptions to Michael Johnson -- the second year pro out of Arizona -- and four fumbles that rattled him even more as the day progressed. The last fumble sealed the victory with the Giants as Justin Tuck forced the ball out of his hand and his teammate, Josh Morgan (Virginia Tech), kicked it out of the - resulting in a safety.
This game showed weaknesses for both teams that they need to work on in the upcoming week. The 49ers need to work on protecting the ball and establishing the running game. Even though they have one of the top running backs in the league with Frank Gore, they still need to establish that running game early so they can work off the play action. The main problem with their play action is they do not have adequate receivers at the moment. Another weakness for the 49ers is their inability to stop teams in the red zone. The Giants bull rushed their way through their front seven whenever they got inside the 20.
The Giants showed glaring weaknesses over coverage in the middle of the field. Without starting linebackers Antonio Pierce and Gerris Wilkinson, the team struggled with defending passes over the middle. Chase Blackburn and rookie Bryan Kehl played up to their ability, but there were too many instances when the middle of the field was wide open. The Giants must adjust their schemes to remedy this problem before teams pick up on it more and punish them like the Cleveland Browns did last Monday night. I also have a problem with the way Aaron Ross is playing. Now, I loved this player when he won the Thorpe award at the University of Texas and during last year with the Giants, but he has been getting burned the last two weeks. First, Braylon Edwards toasted him last week and a plethora of receivers did the same for the 49ers this past Sunday. When I met him the past off-season, he seemed like an average sized player without great build or height. I hope that he improves over next week or our secondary is in sever trouble due to our lack of depth.
Even after the Giants eleven penalties, fumbles by Ahmad Bradshaw, and blocked field goal returned for a touchdown, the G Men still managed to win the game by two scores. This shows the defense's tenacity, the offense's ability to manage the game, and the fact that the 49ers aren't a very good team. On Monday, they even fired their head coach Mike Nolan because they were performing at such a low level. The Giants must become more focused for the game against Pittsburgh or they will get beat around the field by that punishing defense. We also must find a way to stay healthy or our secondary will be left out to dry for the third straight week. At least the G Men are 5-1 and atop the NFC East.
Keywords: New York Giants
