Giants Get Win On Road

It wasn't pretty. But the Giants (6-2) got a much needed boost on the road with a 24-6 win over the 49ers (2-6) at Monster Park Sunday. It was their first official win of the season away from Giants Stadium.

However, it wasn't easy. They were penalized 10 times for 81 yards but still overcame it for the victory. After getting an early 22-yard field goal from Jay Feely, rookie Brandon Jacobs was stopped on two fourth-and-one's to keep San Francisco down by three.

With a late 49ers drive stalling thanks to a few penalties and a Brent Alexander interception of Cody Pickett, Big Blue put itself in position for another score.

That's when Coach Tom Coughlin made a critical decision to go for another fourth-and-short from the 49ers' 32 early in the second quarter. This time, the gamble paid off thanks to a playfake by Eli Manning, who lofted a pass for a wide open Jeremy Shockey near the goal line. With the ball overthrown, Shockey was forced to make a lunging catch and then barreled his way into the end zone for the game's first touchdown, giving the Giants a 10-0 lead into the locker room.

"It was wide open, and there was no one there," Shockey said. "I have never seen that look in my whole career, and I probably will never see it again. It was a completely busted coverage."

But in the second half, any thoughts of an easy win were pushed aside when Joe Nedney booted two field goals 5:24 apart to cut the lead to 10-6 with over a quarter left.

With New York's offense needing a big play, that's when Plaxico Burress stepped up and made the catch of the day. With the ball at their own 38, Manning threw deep down the right sideline for Burress, who made a spectacular one-handed grab for a 50-yard gain all the way to the San Francisco 12. What made the catch even more phenomenal was that once again Manning overthrew it but Burress leaped up with a defender draped on him and brought it down with his right hand. It would turn out to be the play of the game.

"We just had to get the ball in our receivers' hands and let them be the athletes," said Manning, who won for the first time on the road in his career. "We had to figure out a way not to hurt ourselves, and mostly we avoided that. We had too many mistakes, but they didn't end up hurting us."

Five plays later, Jacobs ran for a one-yard TD- the first of his two scores in the fourth quarter to make it 17-6. The Giants would seal it two drives later with Jacobs scoring again from two yards out.

New York's D held the 49ers to 138 total yards. It was the second straight week they didn't allow a TD.

Manning finished 18-of-33 for 251 yards and a TD while Burress and Shockey combined for nine receptions, 176 yards and a score.