McAdoo could have been satisfied riding Manning’s hot hand (87 percent completion rate), but he mixed in an effective ground attack.
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But Beckham has proven to be a step ahead of his peers and again showed why in the Giants’ 31-24 victory over the Dolphins.
Manning went 27 for 31 for 337 yards and four scores.
Ryan Tannehill found Kenny Stills for a 47-yard touchdown to restore Miami’s advantage midway through the third quarter, but Beckham Jr was determined to get the Giants back into the game and he levelled the scores with yet another sensational catch.
Moore played collegiately at Texas A&M, where he appeared in 38 games (23 starts) and had 197 tackles (116 solo), 26.5 sacks, 45.0 tackles for loss, one interception, eight forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
For a team that had to exorcise a season’s worth of fourth-quarter demons, the now 6-7 Giants couldn’t have scripted a better confidence-building conclusion to Monday’s game.
The Dolphins were hurt by 12 penalties and seemed reluctant to run the ball, as has been the case most of the year. But of all people, his coach dissed that hypothesis today on a conference call. It pisses me off, and I know it pisses those guys off in the locker room. “These circumstances are very obvious and if you’re going to play well, you better play well now”. And then we got to the point we felt like we had to throw it a little bit more.
The Giants, who have struggled to close out games this season, losing four times when leading in the final minute of regulation, had enough to close the deal Monday, pleasing coach Tom Coughlin. Landry had 11 catches for 99 yards but was flagged for a costly personal foul penalty with his team trailing in the fourth quarter. As the list of Dolphins greats left the field they once owned the question wasn’t so much about the past teams but the current one.
The treatments, which Beckham said was the “same juice in the Space Jam that they put in the Space Jam bottle” obviously worked, even if it meant Beckham had to miss a few plays while the IV made its way into his body.
Flowers then missed Week 3 against the Redskins – the quick Thursday Night Football turnaround played a big part in his inactive status – before returning for Week 4 against the Bills.
Regardless what the answer may be, the Giants were sensational on Monday night as they kept their playoff hopes alive in a must-win game against the Miami Dolphins. “I think that’s where it all came from”. Thankfully this week, the Giants’ offense closed out the victory on the arm of Manning and a couple of bruising runs by Rashad Jennings.
“This week was just about having a sense of urgency about where we are”, Giants offensive lineman Marshall Newhouse said when asked about Manning’s speech. In discussing that, he paraphrased the message his teammates said he had delivered to them.
“That’s how you get motivated to win – you get exhausted of losing”. “They were playing a lot of shell coverage, trying to take away Odell, trying to make us hold the ball”. You just don’t get the feeling he will look at himself as bigger than the game, the way some self-absorbed players often become deeper into their careers.
“The whole theme all week was to play 60 minutes and to finish a game, finish the game, be able to make the kinds of plays necessary when the game is on the line”, Coughlin said.
Fortunately for them, it’s also the way they emerged from it. They still face a daunting challenge.
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The Dolphins (5-8) were mathematically eliminated from the playoff picture. All I know is that the Eagles and ‘Skins still play each other and we all know the Giants will see the Eagles again week 17. It’s going to be tough. “We did a great job”, Beckham said.
