Defense Lifts Giants Over Raiders and to a Third Straight Win

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - It was the kind of game the Giants had lost earlier in the season. They had three turnovers, an Eli Manning interception returned for a touchdown and a costly special teams miscue on the game's opening sequence.

Sunday's meeting with the Oakland Raiders at MetLife Stadium had humiliating home loss written all over it.

But in November, the Giants have two things they can count on that they did not have in September.

Running back Andre Brown, sidelined since the preseason with a broken leg, returned to the lineup Sunday and solidified a dominant running game that bailed out Manning, who had a sloppy, inconsistent day throwing the football. And the Giants defense, which has given up only one touchdown in the last 14 quarters, took over the game in the second half. A pivotal goal-line stand kept the game close and an interception set up the go-ahead points.

The result was a nail-biting 24-20 Giants victory. If it was a less than skillful performance, it was still the Giants third consecutive victory. The Giants, now 3-6, remain in the hunt for the N.F.C. East title and a playoff berth. Oakland falls to 3-6.

The Raiders led by 3 at halftime and then opened the third quarter with a 14-play drive that ended with a 24-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski that put Oakland ahead, 20-14. At the end of the Oakland possession, the Giants defense made an impressive goal-line stand, stopping the Raiders three times from the 1 toward the end of the drive. But the drive should have ended several plays earlier when linebacker Keith Rivers blitzed and had an open path to Terrelle Pryor on a third-and-2 at the Giants 36. But Rivers whiffed on the tackle and Pryor threw 23 yards to wide receiver Denarius Moore setting up the field goal.

Trailing again and with the offense sputtering, the Giants were uplifted by the defense. Cornerback Terrell Thomas picked off a poorly thrown pass from Pryor and returned it 65 yards to the Oakland 5. Thomas appeared to fumble as he went down, with the ball squirting out the back of the end zone, which would have been a touchback.

But Thomas was ruled down before the fumble and soon after Brown scored on a 1-yard touchdown that put the Giants up, 21-20.

The Giants moved the football inside the Raiders 5-yard line to open the fourth quarter but settled for a 23-yard field goal by Josh Brown and a 4-point Giants lead.

Oakland had several fourth-quarter possessions but could not move the ball into scoring position against a fired up Giants defense that made multiple crucial plays, including a third-down sack of Pryor by Mathias Kiwanuka.

Offensively, the Giants put their trust in Brown, who finished the game with 115 rushing yards on a career-high 30 carries.

Like something all too familiar from the team's 0-6 start to the season, the Giants fumbled the opening kickoff of the game.

Giants returner Jerrel Jernigan was carrying the ball loosely under his right arm until the 23-yard line when Taiwan Jones knocked it free. The ball popped into the air where it was snatched by the Raiders Andre Holmes, who ran down the right sideline until he was pushed out at the 5-yard line.

Two plays later, Pryor scored on a quarterback sneak. Less than a minute in the game, the Giants were trailing, 7-0.

It was one of three first-half turnovers for the Giants.

But first, a different wing of the Giants special teams made up for Jernigan's mistake. The rookie Damontre Moore, who has been a thorn in the side of several opposing punters this season, burst through the middle and blocked the punt of Oakland's Marquette King. Another rookie, the safety Cooper Taylor, did a nice job of not overrunning the blocked punt, which Taylor scooped up at the Oakland 21 and ran into the end zone to tie the game.

It was the Giants first blocked punt returned for a touchdown since 1988.

But the Giants were not done giving Oakland golden scoring opportunities. Late in the first quarter, running back Peyton Hillis fumbled at the Giants 20 after a short reception.

The Raiders turned that into a 33-yard field goal by Janikowski.

The Giants regained the lead with an 11-play, 90-yard touchdown drive. Brown, whose return to the lineup from a broken leg clearly gave the Giants offense a boost, ran for 28 yards during the drive. Manning also threw passes to Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks.

Then, on a third down from the Oakland 5, Manning lofted a pass to the back of the end zone, which the second-year wide receiver Rueben Randle pulled in for the score to put the Giants up, 14-10.

With the Giants defense keeping Pryor and the Raiders offensive in check, the Giants appeared ready to take over the game. A 25-yard pass to Randle moved the Giants to their 37-yard line at the two-minute warning before halftime.

But on the next play, Manning inexplicably hurried a pass toward Cruz even though Oakland cornerback Tracy Porter was between Manning and Cruz.

Porter made the easy interception and returned it 43 yards for a touchdown, and several minutes later, the dispirited Giants headed into their locker room behind by 3 points despite having thoroughly out-played the Raiders in the first half.

EXTRA POINTS

Running back Brandon Jacobs, who injured his groin muscle while running for more than 106 yards in the Giants loss to Chicago on Oct. 10, was inactive Sunday. Jacobs has not played since the Chicago game. ... The Giants wore white uniform pants Sunday, a departure from their usual gray pants. They are expected to wear the white pants at least once more this season. ... Jason Pierre-Paul left the game in the first half with a shoulder injury but returned after X-rays were negative.