Giants Have Chances Against 49ers but Fail to End Losing Streak
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The San Francisco 49ers fumbled four times Sunday. They did not recover a Giants onside kickoff. They botched a field-goal attempt with a bad snap. The 49ers committed a host of defensive penalties, and their quarterback Colin Kaepernick was having a subpar passing day.
Everything was set up for the Giants to break their four-game losing streak.
But even with all the help they were getting from the 49ers the Giants could not get out of their own way. They were too busy making multiple, pivotal errors of their own.
Undone by five Eli Manning interceptions and unimaginative play-calling in a crucial, late-game goal-line situation, the Giants stumbled to their fifth successive defeat. The 49ers' 16-10 victory would appear to all but assure that the Giants (3-7) will miss the playoffs for a third consecutive season. San Francisco improved to 6-4.
Trailing by 2 points at halftime, the Giants received the ball to start of the second half. But the Giants' possession lasted only three plays. When the 49ers took possession, they needed only three plays to score their first touchdown of the game.
From the Giants 48-yard line, San Francisco wide receiver Michael Crabtree ran a slant pattern. When he caught the ball there were five Giants defenders within 5 yards of him. No one got more than a hand on Crabtree as he sprinted into the end zone and San Francisco went ahead, 16-7.
Preston Parker had a chance to return the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown but stumbled into 49ers kicker Phil Dawson, who was the last person in Parker's path to the end zone. The 38-yard return set up a 43-yard field goal by the Giants' Josh Brown.
Brown then made what could have been a pivotal turning point play. His onside kick dribbled forward, and as the 49ers Bubba Ventrone scooped up the ball, Brown tackled him and pried the ball loose. The Giants recovered the fumble and the turnover had the MetLife Stadium crowd on its feet.
But the Giants offense could not capitalize. Manning threw his third interception of the game when he overthrew Randle on a third-down play.
The 49ers could have scored on their next possession but a low snap ruined a field-goal attempt.
The Giants marched down the field on their first possession of the fourth quarter, adeptly mixing runs by Rashad Jennings, who returned to the lineup after sitting out four games with a knee sprain, and accurate short passing by Manning. But on a second-and-5 at the 49ers 32-yard line, Manning's pass for Rueben Randle was intercepted by cornerback Chris Culliver. Yet another Giants drive was stalled by a Manning turnover.
The Giants kept the 49ers off the scoreboard and got the ball back to the offense with 6 minutes and 18 seconds remaining in the game. A 26-yard completion to Randle advanced the Giants into San Francisco's territory and a spectacular 37-yard sideline catch by Odell Beckham Jr. put the Giants at the 49ers 4-yard line.
But the Giants new-look offense grew amazingly predictable from there. The Giants tried three consecutive corner fade patterns - the first to Beckham, the second Randle and the third to tight end Larry Donnell. Each ended with an incompletion and none of the three had much of a chance at success.
On fourth down, the Giants receivers were covered. Manning tried to force a short pass to Parker at the goal line. It was deflected and intercepted.
A final Giants' possession ended without a first down.
After 20 consecutive games when they did not score a touchdown on their first possession of a game, the Giants seamlessly roared down the field on their opening series Sunday to take a 7-0 lead. It was only a five-play drive but featured back-to-back completions to Randle that picked up a total of 38 yards. Short but dependable runs by Jennings added to the drive.
Then, after a play-action fake, Manning threw over the middle to Donnell, who began the play near the middle of the line as a blocker. Donnell got behind the San Francisco linebackers for a 19-yard touchdown reception, his sixth touchdown of the season.
The Giants scoring drive was set up by a fumble by 49ers running back Frank Gore deep in Giants' territory. For most of the first half, the Giants had trouble stopping the San Francisco offense - except when the 49ers moved close to the Giants' end zone.
The 49ers' first drive ended with Gore's fumble and the next three drives stalled but did lead to three field goals by Dawson.
While the Giants were keeping the 49ers out of the end zone, they were having big problems containing the 49ers' running game, which racked up more than 100 yards in the first half.
Gore gashed through the Giants defensive front on the game's first play for 14 yards and he continued to find room to run through the first two quarters. Working on the edges of the defensive line was Kaepernick, who dashed free for a few long end around plays. Unlike last week against Seattle, the Giants were often in position to stop the quarterback keepers, but Kaepernick was too swift and elusive, running away from defenders for gains of 16 and 9 yards.
Two second-quarter drives by the Giants were cut short by interceptions. Throwing from his 38-yard line, Manning tried to hit Beckham over the middle but linebacker Chris Borland stepped in front of the pass for the interception. That led to a 44-yard field goal by Dawson that gave San Francisco a 9-7 halftime lead.
On the Giants' next possession, a 30-yard pass from Manning to Donnell moved the Giants into 49ers' territory. But five plays later, with the Giants at the San Francisco 17, Manning threw to his right trying to connect with Randle. As has frequently happened in the past, there was some kind of miscommunication between Manning and Randle. Manning threw the toward the middle of the field as if expecting Randle to cut to his left. Instead, Randle went to his right. With no receiver in the path of the pass, it was easy for San Francisco linebacker Michael Wilhoite to make the interception.
EXTRA POINTS
The Giants right tackle Justin Pugh left the game in the first half with a strain of his quadriceps muscle. Charles Brown, a little-used reserve, replaced Pugh, who has been a staple of the Giants offensive line since the beginning of last season.
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