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By Patricia Traina
East Rutherford, N.J. - The Giants fought the good fight, but like 11 other teams before them, fell short in their quest to overtake the Green Bay Packers, who edged New York 38-35 at MetLife Stadium on Mason Crosby's 30-yard field goal as time expired Sunday.
Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers engineered the game winning drive with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter culminating in a 31-yard field goal by Crosby that left the Packers perfect at 12-0. The Giants were left groping for playoff position at 6-6, a game behind the Dallas Cowboys who fell to the Arizona Cardinals in overtime.
With time ticking away, Rodgers and company went to work, as he connected on three long pass plays to three different receivers - tight end Jermichael Finely for 24 yards; and receivers Jordy Nelson for 27 yards and Greg Jennings for 18 yards, to set up Crosby's game winning field goal.
The Giants appeared to be on their way toward staging another of their infamous fourth-quarter comebacks on their final possession of the game.
Quarterback Eli Manning drove the offense 69 yards on nine plays, the highlight being a 22-yard completion to sparkplug receiver Victor Cruz, who finished the night with seven catches for 117 yards, giving him 1,074 receiving yards for the season.
Five plays later, Manning found Hakeem Nicks for the receiver's second touchdown of the game, a two-yard pass that set up the ensuing successful two-point conversion, a quick jolt by back DJ Ware that tied the score.
Manning hurt the Giants upset effort with his sixth interception in his last five games at the start of the second quarter. It was a critical miscue as linebacker Clay Matthews returned the ball 38 yards for the touchdown and the 14-10 Packers lead.
The Giants also suffered a busted coverage by the defense on the 13-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to receiver Donald Driver later in the second quarter. Cornerback Aaron Ross looked unsure of who to cover and Driver, who finished with two touchdown receptions, capitalized with an easy scoring grab to give his team a 21-17 lead.
Despite the Giants holding the Packers close on the scoreboard and on the stat sheet - Green Bay's 449 total net yards was only better than the Giants effort by two yards - not everyone was happy with a "moral" victory.
"I know we played hard and we left it all out there, but it's onto the next one," said defensive end Dave Tollefson, who was sporting a swollen right knee after the game. "We're going to play hard again and leave it out there and see what happens when the dust settled."
New York was without two offensive linemen, tackle Stacy Andrews and starting center David Baas, the latter of whom was scratched due to a headache. That forced the coaches to throw second-year man Mitch Petrus in at left guard and move Kevin Boothe over to center, where he hadn't practiced all week.
The Giants also had some injuries on defense, the most serious of which appears to have been suffered by starting safety Kenny Phillips, who missed the second half.
In the end, despite falling short of the win, the Giants nearly stood toe-to-toe with the Packers in virtually every major statistical category.
"There are a lot of positives to take out of it," said linebacker Chase Blackburn, signed to the 53-man roster this week and who had a big interception of a Rodgers pass in the second quarter deep in Green Bay territory. "The energy, the way that people stepped into roles real quickly off the bench—no ifs, and or buts, they knew what was going on. So we know that there are guys everywhere that can step up and make plays when called upon."
Game Notes: Offensive linemen David Baas and Stacy Andrews were late scratches. Baas, who practiced all week, sat out due to a headache. Andrews, meanwhile, was admitted to a local hospital on Saturday night with pulmonary embolisms in both lungs. According to the Giants, the blood clots are thought to have originated in his legs, broken up and traveled to his lungs… With Baas and Andrews out, second-year man Mitch Petrus and rookie James Brewer, were active. Petrus received his first career start, at left guard, with Kevin Boothe moving to center. Brewer, the team's fourth-round draft pick, was active for the first time this season.
