2011 New York Giants season: Difference between revisions

2011 New York Giants season
Head coach	Tom Coughlin
Home field	MetLife Stadium
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	1st NFC East
Playoff finish	Won Wild Card Playoffs (Falcons) 24–2 Won Divisional Playoffs (Packers) 37–20 Won NFC Championship (49ers) 20–17 (OT) Won Super Bowl XLVI (Patriots) 21–17
Pro Bowlers	QB Eli Manning DE Jason Pierre-Paul Selected but did not participate due to participation in Super Bowl XLVI
AP All-Pros	Jason Pierre-Paul, DE - 1st Team Victor Cruz, WR - 2nd Team
← 2010 New York Giants seasons 2012 →

The 2011 New York Giants season was the 87th season for the team in the National Football League. They played all of their home games at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Although the team did not improve on their 10-6 mark from 2010, the Giants were able to qualify for the playoffs and won Super Bowl XLVI, marking the fourth time in team history that they won a Super Bowl.

With a 9–7 record, the Giants returned to the NFL playoffs for the first time since 2008, when they won the NFC East and finished the season as the NFC's #1 seed. New York finished 10–6 in 2010 but failed to qualify for the playoffs due to not having any tiebreakers over any NFC playoff team. The Giants entered their week 17 match up with the Cowboys with both teams tied for the division lead with 8–7 records. The Giants took a 21–0 first half lead and while the Cowboys closed the gap to make the score 21–14 early in the 4th quarter, the Giants held on to defeat the Cowboys 31–14, clinching the divisional title and a playoff berth.

In the playoffs, the Giants defeated the Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, and the San Francisco 49ers to win the NFC championship. The Giants defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI, which was a rematch of Super Bowl XLII from 4 years earlier in which the Giants defeated the previously undefeated Patriots. As in 2007, 1990, and 1986, the Giants played their eventual Super Bowl opponent during the regular season. The Giants also played the Packers and 49ers during the season, losing both games in the final minutes of play.

The 2011 Giants were the first team in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl with a negative point differential (minus-6, 394 points scored, 400 points allowed). With a 9–7 record, the Giants became the third NFL team to win fewer than 10 games in a 16 game season, and reach the Super Bowl.^[1] but neither of those teams won the Super Bowl as the Giants did (they were both defeated by the Pittsburgh Steelers). Additionally, upon defeating the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI the Giants became the first NFC East Division champion to win the Super Bowl since the Dallas Cowboys in 1995 (the Giants were a Wild Card team when they won Super Bowl XLII).

Some news organizations, among them The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, said that the Giants' victory in the Super Bowl made them NFL's version of the 2011 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, saying that these two championship teams that had been given the last rites by many near the end of the season, emerged as champions at the end.^[2]

Todd McShay (ESPN),^[3] Steve Wyche (NFL.com),^[4] Pat Kirwan of NFL.com, New Era Scouting, and DraftKing.com predicted that the Giants would use their first round pick (19th overall) to draft Gabe Carimi (who went 29th overall), a left tackle for the Wisconsin Badgers who won the 2010 Outland Trophy as the nation's top collegiate interior lineman, and was a Consensus All-American.^[5][6][7] Charles Davis of NFL.com predicted that they would draft Mike Pouncey (who went 15th overall), a center/offensive guard from the University of Florida.^[8] They instead drafted Prince Amukamara, an all-American cornerback from the University of Nebraska.

Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
1	19	Prince Amukamara	CB	Nebraska
2	52	Marvin Austin	DT	North Carolina
3	83	Jerrel Jernigan	WR	Troy
4	117	James Brewer	OT	Indiana
5	[a]
6	185	Greg Jones	LB	Michigan State
6	198 [b]	Tyler Sash	S	Iowa
	202 [b]	Jacquian Williams	LB	South Florida
7	221	Da'Rel Scott	RB	Maryland

^{^[a]} The Giants traded its fifth-round selection (#150 overall) and a 2012 conditional draft selection to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for RB Darius Reynaud and QB Sage Rosenfels.

^{^[b]} Compensatory selection.

In the first week of the offseason the Giants signed some road free agents and former members of their 2010 practice squad to reserve/future contracts in order to bolster the roster for the 2011 season. In early March the team signed potential free agents to contract extensions: on March 2 the team signed running back D.J. Ware to a two-year extension and on March 3 they signed wide receivers Domenik Hixon and Darius Reynaud to one and two-year extensions, respectively. They also offered tenders to some of their restricted free agents but the effectiveness of these tenders rely on the ongoing CBA talks.

Position	Player	Free agency tag	Date signed/released	2011 team
LB	Chase Blackburn	UFA	November 29, 2011	New York Giants
CB	Will Blackmon	Released	January 2, 2011	New York Giants
OG/OT	Kevin Boothe	UFA		New York Giants
TE	Kevin Boss	UFA	August 5, 2011	Oakland Raiders
RB	Ahmad Bradshaw	UFA		New York Giants
CB	Courtney Brown	RFA		did not play
LB	Keith Bulluck	UFA		did not play
WR	Michael Clayton	UFA		New York Giants
DT	Barry Cofield	UFA		Washington Redskins
S	Deon Grant	UFA		New York Giants
WR	Derek Hagan	UFA		Oakland Raiders
WR	Domenik Hixon	UFA	March 3, 2011	New York Giants
S	Michael Johnson	UFA		Detroit Lions
DE	Mathias Kiwanuka	UFA		New York Giants
OT	Jamon Meredith	ERFA	March 3, 2011	New York Giants
TE/FB	Bear Pascoe	ERFA	March 3, 2011	New York Giants
RB	Tiki Barber	RFA	March 8, 2011	did not play
WR	Steve Smith	UFA		Philadelphia Eagles
QB	Jim Sorgi	UFA		did not play
DE	Dave Tollefson	UFA		New York Giants
RB	DJ Ware	RFA	March 2, 2011	New York Giants
LB	Gerris Wilkinson	UFA		Jacksonville Jaguars
RFA: Restricted free agent, UFA: Unrestricted free agent, ERFA: Exclusive rights free agent

2011 New York Giants final roster

	Quarterbacks  8 David Carr 10 Eli Manning Running backs 44 Ahmad Bradshaw 45 Henry Hynoski FB 27 Brandon Jacobs 33 Da'Rel Scott 28 DJ Ware Wide receivers 13 Ramses Barden 80 Victor Cruz 12 Jerrel Jernigan KR 82 Mario Manningham 88 Hakeem Nicks 15 Devin Thomas Tight ends 85 Jake Ballard 47 Travis Beckum 86 Bear Pascoe FB		Offensive linemen 64 David Baas C 77 Kevin Boothe G 79 James Brewer T 63 Jim Cordle C 66 David Diehl T 67 Kareem McKenzie T 62 Mitch Petrus G 76 Chris Snee G 70 Tony Ugoh T Defensive linemen 95 Rocky Bernard DT 99 Chris Canty DT 97 Linval Joseph DT 73 Jimmy Kennedy DT 90 Jason Pierre-Paul DE 71 Dave Tollefson DE 69 Justin Trattou DE 91 Justin Tuck DE 72 Osi Umenyiora DE		Linebackers 93 Chase Blackburn MLB 59 Michael Boley OLB 58 Mark Herzlich OLB 53 Greg Jones MLB 94 Mathias Kiwanuka OLB 55 Spencer Paysinger OLB 57 Jacquian Williams OLB Defensive backs 20 Prince Amukamara CB 36 Will Blackmon CB 34 Deon Grant FS 22 Derrick Martin SS 21 Kenny Phillips SS 26 Antrel Rolle FS 31 Aaron Ross CB/PR 39 Tyler Sash SS 23 Corey Webster CB Special teams 51 Zak DeOssie LS  9 Lawrence Tynes K  5 Steve Weatherford P		Reserve lists 78 Stacy Andrews T/G (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 96 Marvin Austin DT (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 65 Will Beatty OT (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 83 Michael Clayton WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 37 Michael Coe CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 54 Jonathan Goff MLB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 87 Domenik Hixon WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 25 Bruce Johnson CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) -- Chad Jones SS (NF-Inj.Tooltip Non-football injury and illness) -- Martin Parker DT (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 52 Clint Sintim OLB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 24 Terrell Thomas CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 30 Justin Tryon CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 29 Brian Witherspoon CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad 41 Brandon Bing CB 35 Andre Brown RB 60 Selvish Capers OT 19 Dan DePalma WR 74 Dwayne Hendricks DT 48 Christian Hopkins TE 18 Isaiah Stanback WR 98 Adrian Tracy OLB Rookies in italics 53 active, 14 inactive, 8 practice squad

• On March 9, 2011 the assistant special teams Thomas McGaughey accepted a job with Louisiana State University as special teams/defensive line coach of their football team. He had been with the Giants since 2007.
• On June 24, 2011 it was reported that Larry Izzo would become the Giants' new assistant special teams coach once the NFL Lockout had ceased.^[9]

New York Giants 2010 staff
Front Office President/CEO – John Mara Chairman/Executive Vice President – Steve Tisch Senior Vice President/General Manager – Jerry Reese Vice President of Player Evaluation – Chris Mara Assistant General Manager – Kevin Abrams Director of Pro Personnel – David Gettleman Director of College Scouting – Marc Ross Assistant Director of Pro Personnel – Ken Sternfeld Head Coaches Head Coach – Tom Coughlin Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Kevin Gilbride Quarterbacks – Mike Sullivan Running Backs – Jerald Ingram Wide Receivers – Sean Ryan Tight Ends – Mike Pope Offensive Line – Pat Flaherty Assistant Offensive Line – Jack Bicknell, Jr. Offensive Quality Control – Kevin Gilbride, Jr.			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Perry Fewell Defensive Line – Robert Nunn Linebackers – Jim Herrmann Secondary/Cornerbacks – Peter Giunta Secondary/Safeties – David Merritt Defensive Quality Control – Al Holcomb Special Team Coaches Special Teams Coordinator – Tom Quinn Assistant Special Teams – Larry Izzo Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Jerry Palmieri Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Markus Paul

The Giants' preseason schedule was announced on April 12, 2011.

Week	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		Game site	TV	NFL.com recap
				Final score	Team record
1	August 13	8:00 p.m. EDT	at Carolina Panthers	L 10–20	0–1	Bank of America Stadium		Recap
2	August 22	8:00 p.m. EDT	Chicago Bears	W 41–13	1–1	MetLife Stadium	ESPN	Recap
3	August 29	7:00 p.m. EDT	New York Jets	L 3–17	1–2	MetLife Stadium	NFLN	Recap
4	September 1	7:30 p.m. EDT	at New England Patriots	W 18–17	2–2	Gillette Stadium		Recap

§ - Due to Hurricane Irene, the Week 3 preseason game against the Jets was moved up to 2:00 p.m. from the originally scheduled time of 7:00 p.m. (EDT). Then, later in the evening of August 26, the game was rescheduled to Monday, August 29 at 7:00 p.m. EDT^[10]

Week	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		Game site	TV	NFL.com recap
				Final score	Team record
1	September 11	4:15 p.m. EDT	at Washington Redskins	L 14–28	0–1	FedEx Field	Fox	Recap
2	September 19	8:30 p.m. EDT	St. Louis Rams	W 28–16	1–1	MetLife Stadium	ESPN	Recap
3	September 25	1:00 p.m. EDT	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 29–16	2–1	Lincoln Financial Field	Fox	Recap
4	October 2	4:05 p.m. EDT	at Arizona Cardinals	W 31–27	3–1	University of Phoenix Stadium	Fox	Recap
5	October 9	1:00 p.m. EDT	Seattle Seahawks	L 25–36	3–2	MetLife Stadium	Fox	Recap
6	October 16	1:00 p.m. EDT	Buffalo Bills	W 27–24	4–2	MetLife Stadium	CBS	Recap
7	Bye
8	October 30	1:00 p.m. EDT	Miami Dolphins	W 20–17	5–2	MetLife Stadium	CBS	Recap
9	November 6	4:15 p.m. EST	at New England Patriots	W 24–20	6–2	Gillette Stadium	Fox	Recap
10	November 13	4:15 p.m. EST	at San Francisco 49ers	L 20–27	6–3	Candlestick Park	Fox	Recap
11	November 20	8:20 p.m. EST	Philadelphia Eagles	L 10–17	6–4	MetLife Stadium	NBC	Recap
12	November 28	8:30 p.m. EST	at New Orleans Saints	L 24–49	6–5	Mercedes-Benz Superdome	ESPN	Recap
13	December 4	4:15 p.m. EST	Green Bay Packers	L 35–38	6–6	MetLife Stadium	Fox	Recap
14	December 11	8:20 p.m. EST	at Dallas Cowboys	W 37–34	7–6	Cowboys Stadium	NBC	Recap
15	December 18	1:00 p.m. EST	Washington Redskins	L 10–23	7–7	MetLife Stadium	Fox	Recap
16	December 24	1:00 p.m. EST	at New York Jets	W 29–14	8–7	MetLife Stadium	Fox	Recap
17	January 1	8:20 p.m. EST[11]	Dallas Cowboys	W 31–14	9–7	MetLife Stadium	NBC	Recap

The Giants opened the 2011 season where they had finished the 2010 season, on the road at FedEx Field against their division rival the Washington Redskins. New York had not lost to Washington in the regular season in their last six meetings, but fell in this meeting 28-14. After scoring two first quarter touchdowns and taking a 14-7 lead, the Giants failed to score again. A Ryan Kerrigan interception return in the third quarter put the Redskins in front and they added an insurance score in the fourth quarter when Rex Grossman found Jabar Gaffney in the end zone. Grossman threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns, while Eli Manning threw for 268 with the one interception.

The Giants' home opener was played on Monday night and they took a 28-16 victory over the NFC West runners-up from the previous year. The Rams took an early lead on a Josh Brown field goal, but that would be their only lead as Eli Manning hit Hakeem Nicks and Domenik Hixon for touchdowns. A Michael Boley fumble return added to that and gave New York a 21-6 lead at the half. St. Louis' only touchdown came in the third quarter as Sam Bradford found Danario Alexander to cut the Giants' lead to 28-16, where the game finished. Manning finished with 200 yards passing and threw his first two touchdown passes of the season while Bradford threw for 331 and one score.

Taking to the road to face another divisional rival, the Giants took care of the Eagles in Philadelphia for the first time since 2008 after having lost the previous five meetings. It was the teams' first meeting since the infamous finish to their second matchup in 2010 which saw DeSean Jackson return a punt for a touchdown as time expired. Giants receiver Victor Cruz had what some thought was his breakthrough game, as he caught three passes from Eli Manning and took two for scores including a 74-yarder early in the game. Manning threw for four touchdowns in the game and 254 yards. Jason Pierre-Paul added two sacks and Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 86 yards. Michael Vick threw for 176 yards and an interception while LeSean McCoy led all rushers with 128 yards and the Eagles' only touchdown.

After trailing the Cardinals for most of the game, the Giants scored two touchdowns in the final 100 seconds of the game for their first come from behind victory of the year. Arizona led 20-10 entering the fourth on the strength of two Beanie Wells rushing touchdowns and two Jay Feely field goals. The Giants were aided by a controversial play on their final drive when Victor Cruz appeared to fumble the ball without being tackled. However, upon review it was determined that he had willfully given himself up before he fumbled and as such, he was considered to be down. Eli Manning threw for 321 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 162 of those yards recorded by Hakeem Nicks. Wells rushed for 138 and three scores while Larry Fitzgerald caught eight of Kevin Kolb's passes for 102 yards.

The Giants could not contain their momentum from the previous week's comeback and lost a mistaken-laden game to the Seahawks. Despite Eli Manning throwing three touchdowns and for over 400 yards, his three interceptions proved costly as Brandon Browner returned one for the game clinching touchdown late in the fourth quarter. This and a Doug Baldwin touchdown pass from Charlie Whitehurst came following the Giants taking a 25-22 lead on a Lawrence Tynes field goal. Whitehurst finished the game for an injured Tarvaris Jackson, who finished 15 for 22 for 166 yards. Baldwin and Victor Cruz tied for the game lead with receptions with eight and both recorded a touchdown. Cruz's, however was regarded as a play-of-the-year candidate as he caught the ball off his own deflection and ran it 68 yards to give the Giants a 22-19 lead in the fourth. Marshawn Lynch led all rushers with 98 yards and a touchdown while Cruz recorded 161 receiving yards.

The Giants bounced back from their loss to the Seahawks by recording another last-minute win, beating the Bills 27-24 on a Lawrence Tynes field goal. Buffalo took an early 14-7 lead on two big offensive plays, an 80 yard run by Fred Jackson and a 60 yard pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Naaman Roosevelt. Ahmad Bradshaw recorded three one-yard touchdown runs and recorded his first 100 yard game of the year while Jackson rushed for 121. Hakeem Nicks led all receivers in yards with 96 and Eli Manning threw for 292 yards with no touchdowns. Fitzpatrick recorded two passing touchdowns but also threw two interceptions.

The Giants again found themselves trailing an opponent entering the fourth period, and this time it was the winless Miami Dolphins. New York was down 17-10 behind two rushing touchdowns, one by wildcat quarterback Steve Slaton and the other by starter Matt Moore, and a Dan Carpenter field goal. Lawrence Tynes recorded a field goal of his own while Eli Manning threw a touchdown to Mario Manningham in the second quarter. After Tynes recorded his second field goal in the fourth, Manning found Victor Cruz for a 25 yard touchdown with 2:30 left to give the Giants the victory. Cruz recorded 99 yards on seven receptions while Manning threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns. Reggie Bush led all runners with 103 yards and Moore threw for 138 and an interception.

In the rematch of Super Bowl XLII, Tom Brady was picked off in Giants territory early in the game. With the ball at the New York 29, Brady's pass was tipped by Michael Boley and intercepted by Mathias Kiwanuka, who returned it to the Giants 28, for Brady's 2nd pick of the game. However, the next possession had the Patriots drive down to the Giants 12. Stephen Gostowski's 27-yard field goal went slight left, making this the first time the Patriots had no score at halftime since December 10, 2006. In this game, turnovers marred both teams. First, Lawrence Tynes kicked a 22-yard field goal that put them on 3–0. Then Brandon Jacobs ran it in 10 yards to put the Giants up 10–0. After that, Aaron Ross muffed the punt, giving the Patriots the ball at the Giants 33. However, they could only muster a 32-yard field goal. Devin Thomas muffed his punt, but scooped it up. Then, Julian Edelman fumbled the punt in Giants territory. Driving in the red zone, Manning got picked off by Kyle Arrington in the end zone. Seven plays later, Brady hit Aaron Hernandez for a 5-yard touchdown, tying the game at 10 just 32 seconds into the fourth quarter. With 7:08, Gostkowski's 45-yard field goal gave the Pats their first lead of the game, 13–10. Manning then led the Giants on an 85-yard march to a 10-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham with 3:03 remaining, putting the Giants on top 17–13. It looked like the Pats would win with a comeback of their own when Tom Brady threw a 14-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski, making it 20–17 with 1:36 to go. However, leading the New York Giants 80 yards in just over a minute, Manning hit Jake Ballard for a 1-yard touchdown with 15 seconds left for a 24–20 win on Sunday, repeating a come-from-behind victory similar to the 2008 title game between the teams. They were helped by a 20-yard pass interference penalty against safety Sergio Brown of the Patriots (5–3) that put the ball at the 1 with 30 seconds left. The Giants and the Patriots returned to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis, Indiana for Super Bowl XLVI, with the Giants winning 21–17.

The Giants' winning streak came to an end in San Francisco but they once again had the game in doubt into the final minutes. Field goals comprised the first half scoring, with Lawrence Tynes hitting two and the 49ers' David Akers recording three. The Giants took their only lead in the third quarter as Eli Manning found Mario Manningham for 13 yards to complete an 84-yard drive. The 49ers recorded two touchdowns on a pass to Vernon Davis and a run by Kendall Hunter, while Manning hit Hakeem Nicks for a 32-yard touchdown late in the game. New York received the ball late in the game and drove inside the 49ers' red zone, but Manning's last pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage to preserve the San Francisco win. Manning threw for 311 yards and two touchdowns but also recorded two interceptions, while Alex Smith threw for 242 and the touchdown pass to Davis. Brandon Jacobs rushed for 55 yards to lead the runners while Victor Cruz's 84 yards was tops for the receivers.

Playing on Sunday night for the first time all season, the Giants could not take advantage of three Vince Young interceptions and fumbled on their final drive, allowing the Eagles to salvage a split in the season series. New York fell behind 10-0 on an Alex Henery field goal and a touchdown pass from Young to former Giant Steve Smith. Trailing 10-3 entering the fourth, Eli Manning sought out Victor Cruz who caught a pass for 24 yards and the tying touchdown. However, they allowed Young to put together an 18-play drive finishing with a Riley Cooper touchdown pass for the final margin of victory. Despite his three interceptions Young threw for 258 yards in his relief effort for the injured Michael Vick. Manning threw for 264 yards, 128 of which went to Cruz. LeSean McCoy again rushed for 100 yards, recording 113 on 23 carries.

The week 12 Monday night matchup with the Saints in New Orleans was perhaps the lowest point of the Giants' season. New York fell behind 21-3 at halftime and New Orleans cruised to a huge victory. Eli Manning threw for 406 yards and two touchdowns, both to Victor Cruz, but by that time the game had long been decided. Drew Brees recorded 363 yards and 4 touchdowns, two of which were recorded by Jimmy Graham, and rookie halfback Mark Ingram picked up 80 yards on the ground and scored the game's final touchdown on a 35-yard run. The 45 points were the Giants' most given up to that point in the season.

Looking to snap their losing streak, the Giants took on the undefeated Packers at home following their blowout loss in New Orleans. New York rebounded from their poor offensive effort against the Saints by putting up 35 points on the defending Super Bowl Champions and had the lead three separate times during the course of the game. With 58 seconds remaining in the game and Green Bay leading 35-27, the Giants tied the game on a touchdown and two-point conversion by Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks, and DJ Ware. The Giants could not stop Aaron Rodgers from leading the Packers back down the field, however, and Mason Crosby's field goal as time expired kept the hopes for an undefeated season alive in Green Bay for the moment. Manning threw three touchdown passes, with Nicks recording two and backup tight end Travis Beckum the othr, and recorded 347 yards passing while Victor Cruz added 119 yards on seven catches. Rodgers recorded 369 yards and four touchdowns, two of which went to Donald Driver.

Needing a victory to keep any playoff hopes alive, the Giants went to Arlington, Texas for their first meeting with the division rival Cowboys. Once again, the Giants were able to record a victory in the final minutes. Trailing late in the fourth quarter, Eli Manning recorded a touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ballard to pull the team within five. After Tony Romo failed to hit Miles Austin on a third down and short on the Cowboys' next drive, the Giants drove down the field in 1:26 and Brandon Jacobs scored to give the Giants a 35-34 lead, extended to 37-34 when DJ Ware converted the two-point play. Dallas drove down the field and got into position for a Dan Bailey field goal that would have tied the game. Just before he kicked the ball, Giants coach Tom Coughlin called timeout negating Bailey's successful kick. On the retry, Jason Pierre-Paul recorded a block when he tipped the kick as it was coming up, securing the win and finishing what was a huge night for the second-year defensive end; Pierre-Paul recorded two sacks and a safety as well. Manning threw for 400 yards and two touchdowns while Romo recorded 321 yards and four scores. Laurent Robinson caught one of those passes as part of his four-catch, 137-yard day while Hakeem Nicks recorded 154 yards on seven catches. Jacobs scored two rushing touchdowns, while recording his first 100-yard rushing game of the season.

The Giants failed to capitalize on their win from the week before and once again were defeated by the Redskins for the season sweep. Washington never trailed in this game and forced Eli Manning into three interceptions. Although the Giants recorded two off of Rex Grossman, they never were able to get into any sort of offensive groove and lost 23-10. Washington led 17-3 at halftime and never looked back. Grossman threw for 185 yards and a touchdown to Santana Moss. Jabar Gaffney led the Redskins with 85 yards receiving while Hakeem Nicks recorded 73 for the Giants. Manning finished with 257 yards.

Now needing to win their last two games to make the playoffs, the Giants played their in-stadium rivals, the Jets, on Christmas Eve. Trailing 7-3 in the first quarter and facing third and ten from their own one-yard line, Eli Manning threw a short out pass to Victor Cruz. Cruz broke two tackles and then took off for the end zone, outrunning the remaining Jet defenders on his way to a record-tying 99-yard touchdown reception and a 10-7 lead which the Giants never looked back from. Ahmad Bradshaw rushed for two touchdowns, Chris Canty sacked Mark Sanchez for a safety, and Lawrence Tynes added two field goals to give the Giants their fifth consecutive regular season victory over the Jets and set up a winner-take-all season finale against the Cowboys. Manning, although he did not have his best game, recorded 225 yards and a touchdown while Cruz's three receptions garnered him 164 of those. Sanchez threw a career-high 59 passes for 258 yards and a touchdown to Josh Baker but was intercepted twice. Dustin Keller led all receivers with eight receptions while Shonn Greene just barely outgained Bradshaw with 58 yards.

With the NFC East title on the line the Giants-Cowboys tilt was flexed to Sunday night, marking the first time in the history of prime-time television that both meetings between division rivals were played on the showcase game of the week. The Giants finished off the Cowboys to record the season sweep and win the division. This time, the Giants got out to a 21-0 halftime advantage on a 74-yard hookup from Eli Manning to Victor Cruz and two touchdowns from Ahmad Bradshaw. The Cowboys rallied to within a touchdown when Tony Romo found Laurent Robinson for a second time in the game, but the Giants put the game away with a Hakeem Nicks touchdown pass. Manning finished with 346 yards and three touchdowns, finishing with a career high 4,933 passing yards and 29 touchdown passes. Cruz again had a huge game with 178 receiving yards and a touchdown, finishing with 1,536 yards and nine touchdowns.

Playoff Round	Date	Kickoff	Opponent (seed)	Result	Game Site	NFL Recap	TV
Wild Card	January 8	1:00 p.m. EST	Atlanta Falcons (5)	W 24–2	MetLife Stadium	Recap	Fox
Divisional	January 15	4:30 p.m. EST	Green Bay Packers (1)	W 37–20	Lambeau Field	Recap	Fox
NFC Championship	January 22	6:30 p.m. EST	San Francisco 49ers (2)	W 20–17 OT	Candlestick Park	Recap	Fox
Super Bowl XLVI	February 5	6:25 p.m. EST	New England Patriots	W 21–17	Lucas Oil Stadium	Recap	NBC

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(4) New York Giants	9	7	0	.563	3–3	5–7	394	400	W2
Philadelphia Eagles	8	8	0	.500	5–1	6–6	396	328	W4
Dallas Cowboys	8	8	0	.500	2–4	6–6	372	347	L2
Washington Redskins	5	11	0	.313	2–4	5–7	288	367	L2

• List of New York Giants seasons