The New York Giants‘ offense finally looked like the offense that fans were expecting to see heading into the season. Coach Pat Shurmur gave the Buccaneers defense a heavy dose of Saquon Barkley.
Barkley finished the day with 27 carries for 142 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. On top of that, Barkley added two receptions for 10 yards and one receiving touchdown. Eli Manning was sharp to start the game, completing his first 11 pass attempts (tying a career high). Manning finished the day with an incredible 94% completion percentage (17/18), 231 yards, and two touchdowns.
He connected on red zone touchdown passes with Barkley and Beckham Jr.
The Giants’ defense gave Ryan Fitzpatrick a rough time early on, forcing three interceptions. Defensive backs Michael Thomas and Curtis Riley each got their first interceptions of the season. Janoris Jenkins dropped an easy interception that was then scooped out of the air by linebacker Alec Ogletree, who then returned the interception back for a touchdown. The poor play of Fitzpatrick lead to his inevitable benching for Jameis Winston in the third quarter.
Winston came in and played a solid half of football. Once Winston came in, the defense appeared to fall asleep, letting up three big touchdown drives to keep the game close.
With a three point lead with five minutes remaining, Manning connected with Evan Engram on a 54 yard reception to get the Giants back in the red zone. This ultimately lead to Saquon Barkley’s third touchdown of the game, extending the Giants lead to ten. The defense then let up a huge touchdown to Mike Evans, but recovered the ensuing onside kick. They were then able to let Barkley run the clock down to thirty seconds and punt the ball back to Tampa Bay. B.W. Webb then finished the game, intercepting Winston with 15 seconds remaining.
Pat Shurmur called a great game. The Giants offense was able to score a season high 38 points in a huge win at home to keep the season alive. The Giants are now on a two game winning streak with a huge divisional game against the Eagles coming up next Sunday. After today’s win, Giants fans should feel hopeful that their team can achieve Odell Beckham Jr.’s goal of winning out and slipping into the playoffs. If the offense keeps up this level of play, they could have a great finish to the season.
Final Score: Giants- 38, Buccaneers- 35.