Overlooked weapons get chance late
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — For most of the night, you might not have known Evan Engram and Sterling Shepard were in the game.
As the Giants began the game-winning drive in their 27-23 comeback victory over the 49ers on Monday night at Levi’s Stadium, Engram, the secondyear tight end, had not been targeted by quarterback Eli Manning all night. And Shepard had one catch and an end-around run.
On the final drive, though, the two were the difference in the game.
Engram caught a 31-yard pass early in the drive to ignite the Giants offense and get it into San Francisco territory. And then, a few moments later, he caught a 9-yard pass to get the Giants to the 49ers’ 3-yard line.
From there, Shepard took over, catching the gamewinning pass from Manning with 53 seconds remaining in the game.
“I just saw man-to-man coverage,” said Shepard, who finished the game with two catches for 9 yards — but the most im- portant 3 yards in the game. “That’s something we’ve been practicing for a while. I was able to capture the outside edge and Eli put the ball in the perfect place. It felt good.
“It was a rough day for me, so I was going to do whatever I had to do. I told everybody in the huddle before going out for that last drive that we have to do whatever we can do to get the ball in the end zone. If I say that, I have to live by it.”
Engram, for two weeks, had been living with a crucial fourth-down drop he had against the Redskins in the Giants’ previous game, a 20-13 loss before the bye week. So after not being used as often as usual as the Giants went with a heavier offensive look to block and run the ball more, to make those catches on the final drive was particularly sweet for him.
“It was just part of the game plan,” Engram said. “I didn’t question anything. I just did what I was asked. I knew whenever my number was called I had to answer. I had one job tonight and that was to help the team win. That was my mindset.”