GIANTS WIN
NY Giants 27, Cleveland 10
Preview - Box Score - Recap
By TOM CANAVAN, AP Sports WriterSeptember 26, 2004
AP - Sep 26, 5:40 pm EDTMore PhotosEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- With the way Kurt Warner and Michael Strahan played, the New York Giants never had to worry about a letdown against the injury-ravaged Cleveland Browns.
Warner set up a touchdown run by Tiki Barber with a long pass, and the veteran quarterback capped another drive with his second career regular-season TD run in a 27-10 win over the Browns on Sunday.
``More important than who we were playing today and what the Cleveland Browns brought to the table was, 'Can the New York Giants not beat themselves?''' Giants center and former Brown Shaun O'Hara said.
The Giants (2-1) won their second straight under Tom Coughlin because they got big games from their playmakers, and they did all the little things right.
They won the takeaway battle 3-0, held edges in time of possession and field position and converted 45 percent of their third downs while limiting Cleveland to 2-of-10.
Warner was outstanding for the second straight week, going 19-of-27 for 286 yards and no interceptions. He hurt an ankle late, but said it was not serious.
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``Kurt is putting the ball in places where we can catch it,'' said Amani Toomer, who had five catches for 126 yards and helped set up two touchdowns. ``I'm really happy with the way he can buy a little extra time and get the ball out.''
Strahan, who played with a sore left hand, had two sacks and two fumble recoveries as the defense made life miserable for quarterback Jeff Garcia in handing the Browns (1-2) their second straight loss.
Strahan's biggest play came in the opening minutes of the second half when he recovered a fumble by Garcia at the Giants 5 with New York leading 10-0.
``That play kind of took the air out of their sails, because we went down and scored,'' said Strahan, who also had six tackles.
With Ron Dayne out with a calf injury, Barber rushed for 106 yards and scored on an 8-yard run in the first quarter.
The two-game winning streak matched the Giants' high for last season, when they went 4-12 under Jim Fassel.
``I think we are starting to believe in ourselves,'' said Giants punter Jeff Feagles, who landed four punts inside the 14-yard line in the first half. ``Everybody in this league knows how important confidence is. We're getting turnovers, we're not giving the ball up and (we're) playing sound football. We're getting on a roll.''
AP - Sep 26, 5:40 pm EDTMore PhotosSteve Christie added field goals of 43 and 25 yards and Mike Cloud iced the game with a late 5-yard touchdown run for New York.
Garcia, who had a 0.0 quarterback rating against Dallas last weekend, hit Quincy Morgan on a 3-yard touchdown pass and Phil Dawson kicked a 49-yard field goal for the Browns, who got all their points after falling behind 17-0.
``We had too many mistakes and penalties that erased positive plays,'' said Garcia, who finished 21-of-31 for 180 yards and an interception. ``We had turnovers in bad situations. We never seemed to get anything headed in the right direction until much too late.''
Cleveland had six starters hurt in last week's loss to the Cowboys, and also lost linebacker Ben Taylor with a pectoral injury in the first quarter.
``There was so much made out of our having six or seven starters out of the game,'' Brown coach Butch Davis. ``You start thinking this guy has to do this and this guy has to do that, that you almost paralyze yourself.''
The Browns were held to 89 total yards in the first half, in which four of their six series started inside their own 14-yard line.
Warner gave the Giants the lead with a three-play, 71-yard drive on their second possession that ended when Barber scored on a sweep.
After Garcia fumble early in the second half, Warner drove the Giants 95 yards in 11 plays. A personal foul against Cleveland safety Robert Griffith for a late hit helped the drive early and Toomer and Warner combined on a 38-yard pass to set up Warner's TD run.
A holding penalty against Morgan in the third quarter also nullified a 49-yard touchdown run by William Green.
Notes
Amani Toomer extended his own Giants record by a catching a pass for the 86th straight game. ... Giants TE Jeremy Shockey had five catches for 41 yards after complaining about his role in the offense. ... Browns RB William Green rushed for 91 yards on 15 carries. ... Cleveland started Michael Lehan and Leigh Bodden at the cornerbacks with Anthony Henry and Daylon McCutcheon sidelined. ... Giants rookie Gibril Wilson started at SS with Shaun Williams out with a knee injury. Wilson had his second interception in as many games.
Updated on Sunday, Sep 26, 2004 6:35 pm EDT
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