There are certain games that you feel shouldn't be as close as they are, and you keep seeing a team that was expected to lose pretty easily hang in there and start to believe that they have a chance to pull of the upset. That is exactly how it felt while watching the Sunday Night Football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants. Until the interception at the end of the first half by Tramaine Brock, It felt like the Giants had a good grasp on this game and that there wasn't going to be anything the 49ers could do to take it away from them.
That was probably due to the fact that the 49ers had a few good plays to Bruce Ellington on their opening drive on wide receiver screens, and that Carlos Hyde was getting just enough rushing yards to get two Phil Dawson field goals. But in the second half Jim Tomsula and Geep Chryst opened up the playbook for their criticized quarterback in Colin Kaepernick, and all of a sudden the 49ers sure seemed to look like a different team.
Meanwhile the Giants were able to find some scoring in the first half behind the catching hands of Shane Vereen and the leg of Josh Brown. Overall it seemed like there was not going to be a whole lot of life to the game through the first half, but the second half was where the action really began.
After the 49ers got the ball back from a poorly thrown ball from Eli Manning to Odell Beckham Jr. on a third down conversion attempt, the 49ers started to put things together quickly. On a third down and two, Kaepernick was able to throw an over the shoulder pass to Anquan Boldin that was his first deep pass of the night. They picked up 37 on that play and Colin's confidence was back baby. Hyde would also have a 22 yard run and then Jarryd Hayne would pick up a key third down on the ground. The drive ended with Boldin again getting the catch but this one was for a three yard touchdown reception.
The New York Giants offense had a different look the next time they stepped onto the field, as they did a whole lot of going no huddle against the 49ers from this point until the end of the game. Odell Beckham Jr. was the star of the drive though, with a 15 yard reception to get it out of midfield and into 49ers territory, and then would get a 17 yard touchdown reception with a beautiful spin move after catching the ball for a four yard gain initially.
The 49ers would move the ball well for a few plays on their next possession, and were aided by a huge penalty that went against Giants rookie safety Landon Collins. That put the 49ers into the red zone and they would wind up getting a touchdown from one of their tight ends in Garrett Celek.
The Giants then had a long drive of their own, they went 14 plays over 74 yards and Kenneth Acker almost had a huge interception on Manning once they were down near the goal line. Then they did two quick Vereen runs and ended up sending Brown out for the field goal with just 4:37 remaining in the game.
The first two plays of the 49ers drive in response couldn't have been executed much better. First, they found Torrey Smith on a wide receiver screen that picked up 25 yards. Second, they found Boldin again on an over the shoulder throw for another 26 yards. That only put them 29 yards away from the goal line. Hyde would rush the remaining 29 yards on the drive as he got his only touchdown of the game but it appeared that the game might well be going the way of the 49ers from now on.
But the Giants would respond with a game winning drive of their own. They took possession with 1:41 left and started the drive in an odd way, with Eli Manning picking up a first down with his legs. They found Shane Vereen over the middle again a few times to get the ball to the 49ers 46 yard line. Then there was a close call as Manning was hit while he was throwing, and it was initially ruled another interception by Brock. But the review showed he used the ground to catch the ball, and the Giants had life again. On third and ten, the Giants once again used Shane Vereen to get the first down and he got it all the way to the 20 yard line when the Giants took their final timeout with 30 seconds left.
After that they drew a pass interference penalty on Acker with Odell Beckham Jr. being potentially used as a decoy as he had left the game with a hamstring injury. But then they found Larry Donnell in the back of the end zone as he was able to hang onto the football for the game winning touchdown with just 21 seconds remaining. Yes, the 49ers did get the ball back, but didn't even manage a first down as the Giants won this game by a final of 30-27.
Statistical Leaders
Passing: Eli Manning (41/54, 441 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception)
Rushing: Carlos Hyde (21 carries, 93 yards, 1 touchdown)
Receiving: Odell Beckham Jr. (7 catches, 121 yards, 1 touchdown)
Next Up
The New York Giants (3-2) sit alone on top of the NFC East before they take on their rival Philadelphia Eagles (2-3) at Lincoln Financial Field on Monday Night Football for week six. Meanwhile the San Francisco 49ers (1-4) will return to Santa Clara to take on the Baltimore Ravens (1-4) in a rematch of Super Bowl 47.