Eli Manning had a horrible first half, throwing three interceptions, but rebounded to lead the Giants to a crucial home victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Manning threw for 510 yards and three touchdowns to beat Tampa Bay 41-34 in one of the week's most exciting games.
The passing day was the second-most by a quarterback in franchise history and is the eighth-most in a single game in NFL history. Last year Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 520 yards in a game while New England's Tom Brady threw for 517.
The Giants had to make a furious comeback after the Buccaneers scored 21 points on Manning's three turnovers in the first half. With only eight seconds left, cornerback Eric Wright returned an interception for a touchdown to put Tampa Bay up 24-13 at halftime.
"Eli hung in. He made a couple of bad plays, but he didn't get discouraged," Giants coach Tom Coughlin told the Associated Press. "We just kept talking about the character of this team and we finally made some plays and came back."
The fourth quarter saw four touchdowns in the last seven minutes and found the Giants taking the lead only to give it back to the Buccaneers minutes later.
New York tied the game at 27 after an 80-yard pass from Manning to Victor Cruz, who was playing with a heavy heart due to the loss of his grandmother this past week.
Cruz put a double move on the cornerback and raced behind the coverage to get wide open and Manning placed the ball perfectly in his arms. He raced to the end zone and gave the fans a salsa dance before Andre Brown scored a two-point conversion to tie the game.
"I told some of our young players, you've played in big games in college, but this is something else," Giants defensive captain Justin Tuck said. "This is what you live for. We'd have liked to play better, but if I was a fan at the game and not so close, I would have enjoyed it."
The Giants defense got Tampa Bay to give the ball back with a punt and Manning drove the Giants down the field again. Manning completed a 33-yard pass to tight end Martellus Bennett to go up 34-27, but Tampa answered right back.
Quarterback Josh Freeman connected with wide receiver Mike Williams on a deep 41-yard pass in the end zone to tie the game at 34 with just fewer than two minutes left.
Last season Eli Manning set a record with 15 fourth quarter touchdowns and he showed why he is so good in that quarter in this game, leading the Giants on another scoring drive with minutes left. He connected on a 50-yard pass to Hakeem Nicks, which set up a touchdown run by Andre Brown to put the Giants up for good.
"Nobody wants to start 0-2, so it was a big win, especially after the first half playing poorly," said Manning, whose previous single-game best was 420 yards passing against Seattle in a loss last season. "After not playing well, it's kind of getting back to that level of playing good football. Really good. No punts, no turnovers. Some big-time plays and stepping up when we needed it, that was fun to have."
There was some controversy at the end of the game after the Giants intercepted a Freeman pass and were set to take a kneel and finish the game. Usually teams go easy on the last play when the game is out of reach, but the Buccaneers went hard at the Giants, knocking Manning over as they tried to force a fumble to no avail.
"It was a little bit of a cheap shot," Manning said. "We're taking a knee in a friendly way and they're firing off. It's a good way to get someone hurt."
At midfield for the post-game handshake, coach Coughlin gave Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano a piece of his mind about the play, although after the game Schaino defended his actions.
"They made plays. It's a game of inches," Schiano said. "They were able to make them. We were close and we didn't. Just got to do a better job all around, coaching, playing."
Both Nicks and Cruz had career days, combining for 21 catches and nearly 400 receiving yards. Manning had 295 passing yards in the second half alone and helped erase the memory of his three interceptions.
"This team always says we're going to come back. It's just a confidence level you've got to have," Nicks said. "Eli is an elite quarterback, so there's a confidence that he can get it done."
While the defense gave up a lot of yards, they also made some big plays, including two sacks and Michael Boley's game-clinching interception.
The Giants dealt with some major injuries during the game, including the loss of starting running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who left with a neck injury in the second quarter and didn't return. Backup Andre Brown was effective in his place, rushing for 71 yards on 12 carries.
The team also lost David Diehl to a knee Injury and receiver Domenik Hixon with a head injury. All three players will be evaluated on Monday.
The win helped the Giants avoid going 0-2 at home. New York will have a short week and play the Carolina Panthers on the road on Thursday night.
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