John Fennelly, Lead Writer We got a little tired of the vitriol this week, so we’re dwelling on the positives. For those who have been hating on OC Kevin Gilbride, they need to back off. Gilbride had a pretty solid game yesterday considering his offensive line du-jour could not open holes for the running game and his QB continued to battle some accuracy issues. The Giants actually completed a screen pass yesterday. Luck, you say? Hey, it worked… Key Performances On offense, it has to be WR Jerrel Jernigan. He caught only half his targets (6 catches, 80 yards) but he finally resembles an NFL player. He caught his first career TD – a 20-yard strike down the middle from Eli in which he held onto after getting sandwiched by two Detroit defenders. The Giants got a break on defense as Lions’ superstar WR Calvin Johnson could barely cut on his wounded knee. He caught only 3 passes for 43 yards. The big star on D was DE Mathias Kiwanuka, who had his biggest game of the year: six tackles, two sacks, five QB hits, a pass defended and forced a Reggie Bush fumble which led to a Giants’ score. S Will Hill was right there with him. Of course, his pick-six was the turning point of the game for the Giants, but he played lights-out all afternoon. Hill recorded nine tackles (two on special teams), an INT and a pass defended. Jon Beason had 11 total tackles. The defense did not allow a play longer than 17 yards yesterday. On special teams, Michael Cox had a 56-yard kickoff return to begin overtime. It was the longest of his career and the longest of the season for the Giants. Next up: The Washington Redskins. With a win, the Giants can up their record to 7-9, meaning they would have won seven of their last ten games to close out the season. Source: Continue reading...
