The Giants withstood a second half surge used some late magic of their own to move to 3-2 on the year
The New York Giants walked into Sunday Night Football against the San Francisco 49ers clearly looking like a better team to this point in the season and needing a win to take a commanding lead in the NFC East. On paper, that seemed like an easy task against Colin Kaepernick and a struggling 49ers team playing against Eli Manning and the Giants in primetime. Manning and the Giants passing attack were near unstoppable for the entirety of the affair and kept them ahead in the dogfight they found themselves in. However, Kaepernick and the 49ers put together a huge second-half comeback to make things interesting.
The Giants took a seven-point lead into halftime, but Jim Tomsula must have had the greatest halftime speech ever prepared for Kaepernick and company as the maligned quarterback was masterful in the second half, aided by a tremendous and gusty performance from Carlos Hyde. After fighting back, the 49ers scored a go-ahead touchdown with just under two minutes left in the game. Unfortunately for the Niners, that was too much time for Eli and the Giants as they still had three timeouts remaining and drove down the field for the game-winning touchdown pass to Larry Donnell to earn an unexpectedly hard fought victory at home.
Three stars
Odell Beckham Jr. was expectedly an absolute terror for the 49ers in this game as the dynamic wide receiver amassed 121 yards on seven catches and found his way into the end zone before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury.
Eli Manning was chucking the ball all over the field on Sunday night as he finished the night with 441 passing yards, three touchdowns, and just one interception.
Colin Kaepernick came to life after a couple weeks of being under fire from critics. The quarterback was impressive, especially in the second half as he finished the night with 262 passing yards, two touchdown passes, and 23 rushing yards in the loss.
Highlights
Taking 'get your head in the game' to a whole new level! https://t.co/zX5l1jQgET #SFvsNYG
— Unibet Australia (@UNIBETAustralia) October 12, 2015
The first rule of defending the @Giants is:
— NFL (@NFL) October 12, 2015
Never let Odell Beckham Jr. get open.
He got open. Uh oh. #SFvsNYG http://t.co/5lmMG2RbYP
Kaepernick doing some good things... like recovering his own fumble. #SFvsNYG https://t.co/XLlajYt0Ys
— Sportsbet.com.au (@sportsbetcomau) October 12, 2015
Kaepernick with the DIME to Anquan Boldin on 3rd down. In rhythm. In stride. #49ers https://t.co/ep3wVjl9WN
— Oscar Aparicio (@BetterRivals) October 12, 2015
ELI MANNING QB SNEAKS FOREVERhttps://t.co/j5YI9p9Up1
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) October 12, 2015
Eli to Larry Donnell what a CATCH!!! Giants now lead 30-27 https://t.co/L2A3Y0Vh7q
— NFLRegion (@NFL_Region) October 12, 2015
Odds
The Giants were favored by 7.5 points in this game, but failed to cover despite getting the victory. The two teams also combined to hit over on the 43.5-point over/under.
Next Week
The Giants will be in primetime again next week, traveling to take on the Philadelphia Eagles on the road for Monday Night Football.
The 49ers will be back in San Francisco next week for a home game against the struggling Baltimore Ravens.