Giants Win Ugly in Pittsburgh

Defense tallies 5 sacks, 4 interceptions and a safety.

The Giants headed to Pittsburgh for this week's "Game of the Century," and for three quarters it was a pretty boring affair. New York was the beneficiary of good field position for most of the afternoon, but was only able to turn that into 12 points, all via John Carney field goals. The biggest series of the first half had to be the Steelers goal-line stand, one that saw two challenges -- one from each side -- that saw a would-be Brandon Jacobs touchdown overturned before he was stuffed at the line of scrimmage on the fourth-down try.

The Steelers offense was only marginally better early on; running back Mewelde Moore busted off a 32-yard run for six on Pittsburgh's first drive, and Nate Washington caught a 65-yard touchdown early in the third quarter to give the Steelers a 14-9 lead, but for most of the day, the Giants defense harassed Ben Roethlisberger, sacking him five times, picking him off four more, and reducing him to a pedestrian 44 percent completion percentage.

The game turned in the final quarter, when the Steelers, deep in their own territory, were forced to punt. Pro Bowl linebacker James Harrison, the emergency long-snapper, sent the ball over punter Mitch Berger's head and out of the end zone. That made it 14-14. The ensuing free kick led to great Giants field position, and seven plays and an Eli Manning two-yard pass to Kevin Boss later, the defending Super Bowl champions led 21-14 with just over three minutes on the clock.

Pittsburgh's next drive lasted just four plays, and after using their timeouts to get the ball back, their last drive lasted four more. The Giants, now entering the toughest part of their schedule, got a huge win on the road. It doesn't completely make up for their embarrassing performance against the Browns earlier this month, but it speaks to their resolve, something that'll come in handy in January.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us