East Rutherford, NJ (Sports Network) - Plaxico Burress caught seven passes for
86 yards and a touchdown to lead the New York Giants past the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers, 17-3.
Eli Manning completed 16-of-31 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown for the
Giants, who have won four straight.
Tiki Barber rushed for 68 yards and caught three passes for 20 yards for New
York (5-2), which continues to lead the NFC East.
With Barber likely to retire after this season, this game marked the last
possible time Tiki will play against his twin brother Ronde of Tampa Bay.
New York outgained the Bucs 251-174 in total net offensive yards.
"We knew that this would be a very difficult game," said Giants' head coach
Tom Coughlin. "I was pleased with the way the players responded throughout the
week, knowing full well that this was a football team that, as I mentioned,
could very well have come in here with four wins in a row."
Bruce Gradkowski was 20-of-48 for 139 yards for the Buccaneers, who saw a
modest two-game win streak end.
"This is a good football team we faced, but we had chances out there," said
Gradkowski. "When you don't utilize your weapons and capitalize on chances
then you're going to lose to a good football team. But we fought hard, we
fought to the very end, we just have to learn from our mistakes."
Cadillac Williams rushed for just 20 yards and caught five passes for 34 yards
for Tampa Bay (2-5), which defeated Philadelphia last week after Matt Bryant
booted a 62-yard field goal on the game's final play.
The Giants scored first and took a 7-0 lead with 3:35 left in the opening
quarter. Manning connected with Burress in the left corner of the end zone for
a seven-yard touchdown pass to cap an eight-play, 53-yard drive. Burress
leaped over a defender on the play and hauled the ball in with one hand.
"We work hard during the week and he (Burress) did a great job finding ways to
get open," said Manning. "He was able to catch the ball with the wind and
concentrating on getting the catch. I told the receivers before the game to
concentrate on catching the ball and not the yards after the catch."
Fred Robbins recovered a fumble for the Giants at Tampa Bay's 28-yard line
with 10:19 left in the second and the Giants capitalized off the turnover to
take a two touchdown lead.
A 25-yard pass to Burress put New York at the three-yard line and two plays
later, Brandon Jacobs powered his way into the end zone to make it 14-0 with
8:50 left in the second quarter.
The Giants had 14 points on the board before Tampa Bay recorded a first down.
The Buccaneers finally scored late in the first half after Bryant booted a 43-
yard field goal with 58 seconds remaining until halftime. The Bucs went 34
yards on 13 plays on the scoring drive.
After a scoreless third quarter, Tampa Bay went for it on 4th-and-1 at the New
York 32-yard line early in the fourth and did not convert as a hurried
Gradkowski threw an incomplete pass, turning the ball over on downs.
The missed opportunity on 4th-and-1 in New York territory proved to be the
best chance to score for Tampa Bay in the second half as the Giants' defense
stood tall the rest of the way.
Jay Feely's 31-yard field goal with 3:43 left in the contest made it 17-3.
More importantly, the drive leading up to Feely's three points ate up 7:37 of
clock.
"That was not an easy football game," added Coughlin. "It was a physical game
against a team that has been in the top ten defensively for nine straight
years. (It was) an outstanding game that they played, and we're very fortunate
and very happy to have won."
