Ahmad Bradshaw (#44) celebrates his TD with Henry Hynoski (#45)
The San Francisco 49ers wanted the game against the New York Giants bad after losing in the NFC Championship game earlier in the year. Instead, the Giants reminded them why they have the Super Bowl XLVI ring and defeated the 49ers 26-3 at Candlestick Park. The Giants had an explosive victory with their backs seemingly against the wall after NFL analysts gave them to chance to win.
Ahmad Bradshaw had yet another great running game for the Giants rushing for 116 yards on 23 carries and scoring a touchdown. The 49ers had only given up on rushing touchdown before Bradshaw this season. Here’s another fun stat: Bradshaw is just the second running back to rush over 100 yards in 44 games against the 49ers.
After much criticism all season about the Giants defensive line not working hard enough, they were able to stop Alex Smith by sacking him six times and picking him off twice. Prince Amukamara had one pick and Antrel Rolle grabbed the other two and Jason Pierre-Paul had two sacks. Osi Umenyiora assisted one of the sacks and Justin Tuck was able to hit the quarterback after not touching one all season.
The Giants trailed 3-0 to start the game, luckily not trailing 6-0 when kicker David Akers missed his first 43 yard field goal attempt. He missed two field goals, and made just one.
That’s all the 49ers would get, though.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning took charge on the next offensive drive that ended with a six-yard touchdown pass to Victor Cruz, giving the Giants a 7-3 lead. The half ended on a Lawrence Tynes 34-yard field goal, giving the Giants a 10-3 lead.
Tynes made four field goals and missed one. this miss came when Bear Pascoe missed a block and the field goal was blocked by a defender coming from the outside.
Manning was 15-for-28 for 193 yards and a touchdown to finish the day. The offensive line was very rock solid against the 49ers defense, keeping anyone from sacking Manning after he was sacked by them six times in the NFC title game. Will Beatty, Henry Hynoski, Kevin Boothe, David Baas, Sean Locklear, and Martellus Bennett all made great blocking contributions.
The Giants exploded in the second half when rookie David Wilson returned a 66-yard kickoff to get things started, which set up the 1-yard touchdown for Bradshaw. Both of the 49ers next two drives were intercepted by Rolle, and both plays resulted in Tynes field goals to put the score up 23-3.
The victory over the 49ers came extra important after loses by both the Philadelphia Eagles (3-3) and the Dallas Cowboys (2-3). The Eagles blew a large lead to the Detroit Lions and lost in overtime 26-23. The Cowboys had a chance to win in the final seconds, but kicker Dan Bailey missed the field goal and the Baltimore Ravens held onto the win. After the Giants defeated the 49ers, they took sole possession of first place in the NFC East with a 4-2 record.
The Giants face another NFC East opponent in the Washington Redskins at 1pm in the Meadowlands.
Follow Kelsey O’Donnell on Twitter @KelsODonnell
