EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. _ There were cheers at the end of the first quarter, an ovation at halftime, and a "Let's go Giants" chant early in the fourth. MetLife Stadium certainly enjoyed its first Giants win of the season on Sunday.
And why not? The home team came up with a 38-35 win over the Bucs, recording four interceptions (three off starter Ryan Fitzpatrick to chase him from the game) and using a balanced and consistent offense to score more points than the Giants have in victory since a 45-14 win over Washington in September 2014.
Former Giant Jason Pierre-Paul said earlier in the week he planned to "bring the house down" upon his return to New Jersey. Instead, for the first time in recent memory, the house was rocking with excitement.
That the Giants' 31-14 lead early in the fourth quarter evaporated to 31-28, but ultimately only added to the thrill (and kept most of the fans from fleeing the stadium early).
Saquon Barkley ran for 142 yards on 27 carries and scored three touchdowns while Eli Manning completed 17 of 18 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns.
The win gave the Giants consecutive victories for the first time since their playoff run in 2016 and improved their record to 3-7. What's more, it gave them something that seemed ridiculous just a few weeks ago: Hope in the division. The NFC East seems up for grabs with the first-place Redskins losing starting quarterback Alex Smith to a gruesome injury on Sunday, and while the Giants remain a longshot to make a run at it, they still have a pulse.
The Giants led 14-7 late in the second quarter and seemed to be on their way toward increasing that margin when Manning hit Sterling Shepard for a 23-yard gain to the Bucs' 18, but a review showed Shepard's knee was down after he caught the pass, making it a 4-yard gain instead. That set up third-and-2 and Manning, who had completed his first 11 passes of the game, threw a wheel route to and open Barkley that fell for the first incompletion of the day. On fourth-and-2, the Giants punted instead of attempting to convert or trying a 55-yard field goal.
That gave the Bucs a chance to tie the score. Their drive consisted mostly of Giants penalties _ including a roughing the passer and two neutral-zone infractions on three straight plays against Olivier Vernon _ that brought them to the Giants' 30 with 30 seconds left. Fitzpatrick tried to hit tight end O.J. Howard, but Michael Thomas intercepted the pass for the Giants with 23 seconds remaining in the half and keep the Giants' lead at 14-7.
The Bucs received the second-half kickoff, but it was the Giants who scored quickly. On the second play of the third quarter Janoris Jenkins broke up a slant pass intended for DeSean Jackson. Jenkins bobbled the ball while falling to the ground and linebacker Alec Ogletree came over and stole it away from his teammate. Had Jenkins secured the ball he would have been down by contact from being tangled up with Jackson. Ogletree had no such impediment, and he got to his feet and ran 11 yards for a touchdown that made it 21-7 just 47 seconds into the third.
Curtis Riley intercepted a deep pass in the end zone to end the Bucs' next possession, and the safety returned the ball to the 40. It was the third interception by Fitzpatrick in a span of just over six minutes during which the Giants' offense ran just one play, and it turned out to be his last as he was replaced by Jameis Winston on the next possession. The Giants converted that last Fitzpatrick takeaway into a 52-yard field goal by Aldrick Rosas that made it 24-7 with 7:04 left in the third.
Winston was no more secure with the ball than Fitzpatrick, although his sloppiness was beneficial to the Bucs. Scrambling from the Giants' 8, Winston was tackled by Mario Edwards Jr. at the 3. The ball rolled into the end zone and Riley had a chance to dive on it for a touchback, but Bucs receiver Mike Evans pounced on it first and recovered it for a touchdown that made it 24-14 with 1:32 left in the third. The Giants responded with a touchdown drive as Manning's 8-yard pass to Odell Beckham Jr. in the corner of the end zone made it 31-14 with 13:04 left in the game.
A 5-yard touchdown run by Peyton Barber with 9:47 left made it 31-21, then after a three-and-out by the Giants, Winston's 8-yard touchdown pass to Adam Humphries made it 31-28 with 5:11 left. But a 54-yard catch and run by tight end Evan Engram allowed Giants fans to exhale, setting up a 2-yard touchdown run by Barkley that made it 38-28 with 3:52 left. Winston hit Evans for a 41-yard touchdown with 2:22 left to cut the lead back to three, 38-35.
The Giants punted to the Bucs with 23 seconds left, but Winston's deep pass was intercepted by B.W. Webb to seal the win.
The Giants opened up a 14-0 lead after Manning hit Barkley for a 6-yard pass to cap a crisp opening drive that went 63 yards in 3:18 (Corey Coleman's 40-yard kickoff return set them up with good field position). Then, after stuffing a fourth-down quarterback sneak by the Bucs at the Giants' 5, the Giants drove 95 yards in 12 plays for their second score. Barkley hurdled blockers and would-be tacklers at the line of scrimmage and dived for the goal line for a 5-yard touchdown run.
The Bucs closed to within a touchdown late in the second quarter when Fitzpartrick ran a quarterback draw on fourth-and-goal from the 1, scrambling to his right and finding the end zone.
