giant D king for a Day
Defense comes to the rescue against Rams in battle of England
LONDON — Based on what Eli Manning, Odell Beckham Jr., Rashad Jennings and the entire offensive unit accomplished with the play calls sent in by coach Ben McAdoo, the Giants were destined to turn their longest road trip into a long day’s journey into nothing.
This was going to be an NFL International Series dud for the Giants, despite a huge rooting section at historic Twickenham Stadium, called the “cathedral of rugby’’ in these parts. Based on how the Giants were operating with the ball, it was more like a “dungeon of doom.’’
“Tough day for the offense,’’ McAdoo said.
It turned into a breakout afternoon for the Giants’ defense, led by second-year safety Landon Collins, who did what none of his teammates could do: cut through, around and past the Rams and find his way into the end zone with a dynamic scoring play. Collins and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie equally shared the four interceptions the Giants swiped off Case Keenum and it was defense first and last that steered the Giants to a 17-10 victory, allowing them to hit their bye at 4-3 and with a two-game winning streak.
“We played like we want to be in the top-10 [defensive] rankings in the NFL,’’ Collins said. “That’s how we live. We know defenses win championships.’’
The Giants are a long way from that as they completed a turbulent and difficult first portion of their season. They spent three days in London, arriving overseas but unable to leave their swirling Josh Brown controversy on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Brown did not make the trip and was put on the Reserve/Commissioner Exempt list Friday, as the NFL reopened the investigation into the depths of his domestic violence history.
Then the Giants started miserably, falling into a 10-0 hole in the first quarter — tight end Larry Donnell fumbled the ball away on the second offensive snap, leading to a Rams touchdown. But their defense kept them in the game and eventually won it for them.
“I thought it was a gusty win for our guys,’’ McAdoo said.
Trailing 10-3 — the only Big Blue points coming on a 29-yard field goal from newly signed kicker Robbie Gould — the Giants were sagging in the second quarter, until Collins uplifted them.
Keenum’s pass deflected off the hands of Tavon Austin and up into the air, allowing Collins to pluck it on the Rams’ 44-yard line. The turnover was much-needed, but Collins was not satisfied. He took off on a wild, zigzag return — starting off to his right, making a sharp cut to his left and then plowing through the Rams, finally bulldozing 306-pound center Tim Barnes for the final few yards into the end zone to complete a long and winding touchdown jaunt. Collins broke five tackles along the way.
“When I caught the ball, I had to switch back to running back from my high-school days,’’ Collins said.
Collins’ second interception, off a deflection by linebacker Keenan Robinson, put the Giants on the Rams’ 22-yard line early in the fourth quarter. A key Manning completion to a leaping Odell Beckham Jr. set up Rashad Jennings 1-yard TD run with 9:23 remaining to give the Giants the lead for the first time.
Rodgers-Cromartie’s end-zone inter ception with 4:00 left could have sealed the deal, but did not, and the Rams got it back with 3:03 to go. Once again, the Giants’ defense answered the call, after some angst.
The Rams on a desperation drive advanced to the Giants’ 15-yard line before Keenum panicked on a blitz, floated the ball into the end zone looking for Brian Quick, who quit on the route. The only player standing there was Rodgers-Cromartie.
“I’m like, seriously?’’ he said.
Alone, with 39 seconds left Rodgers-Cromartie corralled the easiest interception of his career.
“Easiest but it was the hardest because it was so wide open,’’ he said. “There wasn’t anybody around, so I was like, ‘Do not drop it, do not drop it.’ It was like a gift man, a gift.’’
Goodness knows the Giants’ offense needed any and all gifts. The unit could not run the ball (34 rushing yards from their three running backs), averaging a pathetic 1.8 yards per attempt. Beckham, playing despite a hip pointer, caught just five passes and did not even average 10 yards per reception.
The best that could be said of the offense is that Manning was not sacked and the interior of the line, led by Justin Pugh, did a solid job nullifying defensive tackle Aaron Donald. The production though, was dreadful.
This was the first non-rugby sporting event in the 107-year history of this storied venue. It was technically a home game for the Rams — though they were a 12-hour flight away — and all the signage inside the stadium was Rams-flavored. The crowd was a mix, with plenty of Rams and Giants jerseys, but also an array of virtually every other NFL team. It was loudest when the Giants made a play, which, on this day, was almost exclusively the handiwork of their defense. “You go down 10 early, you got to keep going out there and f i ghting,’’ Rodgers-Cromartie said. “I can say that about this team, we show resilience. We keep going out there and just keep pounding.’’