NYG 24 OAK 20

More bad football.  "The teams traded mistakes throughout." The procession of opponents with not-ready-for-primetime QBs continued.

• Josh Freeman in his first appearance in a Viking uniform.  Check.
• A hobbled Vick, followed by Matt Barkley.  Check.
• A hobbled Pryor who was unable to run beyond a trot.  Check.
• Up next is Aaron Rodgers broken collarbone, Seneca Wallace groin injury, Scott Tolzien from the practice squad?

At least the Giants defense is not allowing any TDs to these imposters.  The defense has gone 3.5 games w/o letting the opponent into the end zone.  Given the Giants offensive turnovers (2) and mayhem of special teams (1 turnover), that alone is impressive.  To repeat a line we tweeted, it reminds us of the 1970s when the Defense would successfully get off the field and tell the Offense to hold'em until they could get back out there and put up more points.  Terrell Thomas picked off Pryor, who was positively woeful (11/26 122 yds 0 TDs 1 INT) inside the pocket.  The 65 yard INT return to the OAK 3 yard line was instrumental in the setup for the go ahead TD.

The star of the game was Andre Brown.  Give the Giants coaches credit for using their one designation of short term IR on this player.  It was worth it.  Brown ran effectively, getting a 5 yard gain on one play where he was dialed in for a loss behind the line of scrimmage.  He single-handedly turns the Giants' short yardage woes into an asset, as he can get the extra yard or the TD in that situation.  He sees the whole field. He adds the 1 or 2 extra yards for down and distance.  He blocks.  He cuts back when there is nothing in front of him. 

JPP got a sack before hurting his shoulder.  He came back in the game. 

As we stated yesterday, all of this feasting on bad QBs for wins is doing one huge thing: it is buying time for JPP to get back his mojo, if that can indeed happen here in 2013.  Between getting Hill, Beason and Brown into the lineup, the team is getting better. 

I am a staunch defender of Eli Manning as part of another Giants title run in this franchise's future, but Porter's INT today was unfortunately a reminder that his old habit (think 2007 vs MIN) of telegraphing has come back to haunt him.  His stat line was not much better than Pryor's (12/22 140 yds 1 TD 1 INT).

The Defense got 4 sacks.  They limited OAK to 2/12 on 3rd down.  Antrel Rolle had a very good game, with 10 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 huge tackle at the 1 yard line that ended up in a FG instead of a TD.

The special teams gaffes continue.  Jernigan fumbled the opening kickoff.  Weatherford had a horrible day punting, including one that was blocked in Q4.  Offsetting this to a degree was DaMonster's punt block for a Giants TD.  Kind of frightening where the Giants would be today w/o the Thomas pick and Moore specials play.  It's a win. They all count.  Onto the next bad QB.