The defenses of the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants were ahead of the offenses on Saturday night from MetLife Stadium as the Giants got a late touchdown to edge the Steelers 20-16 despite committing a whoping 10 penalties and losing the turnover battle.
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Pittsburgh began the scoring on the night as the Steelers got a 26-yard field goal from Shaun Suisham on their first series that covered seven plays and 70 yards before stalling out in the red zone.
Ben Roethlisberger only attempted two passes with one completion, but that one completion was a big one as third round pick Dri Archer showed off his 4.26 speed on the 46-yard reception.
That was the first of two big plays by the starters in this game as Giants starting running back Rashad Jennings outdid the effort of Archer with a 73-yard touchdown on the ensuing possession to give the Giants a 7-3 lead with 10:14 remaining in the first quarter. Jennings finished with 85 yards on five carries.
The second quarter belonged to the Giants as Josh Brown connected on a 45-yard field goal and Brandon McManus booted a 46-yard field goal in the final seconds of the first half to give New York a 13-6 lead at halftime.
Pittsburgh was able to move the ball in the second half with Bruce Gradkowski and Landry Jones in at quarterback as the Steelers scored 13 unanswered points to take a 16-13 lead
The lead slowly evaporated as Curtis Painter led a 7:26 scoring drive covering 80 yards that culminated in a Corey Washington touchdown reception.
Notable stats from the game: Le’Veon Bell has 18 yards on three carries and Antonio Brown had two receptions for 21 yards for the Steelers who played without first round pick Ryan Shazier who was out with a knee.
Eli Manning was 0-2 passing and the Giants fourth round pick Andre Williams had 35 yards on on seven carries as he looks to solidify the No. 2 role with David Wilson forced to retire due to injury.