Derek Anderson explodes on the Giants
October 14, 2008 by James Edwards
Filed under Sports
NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.
Derek Anderson spots Braylon Edwards wide open 70 yards down the field
Nobody, but nobody was giving the Giants a chance to win this game. It was Monday Night Football and the Giants are surely headed to the Super Bowl, right?
Well, just who is that Nobody guy, because he must have made a ton of dough betting on this game.
Derek Anderson was 18 – 29 for 310 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Cleveland Browns 35 New York Giants 14.
Eric Wright had an interception return for a touchdown that went 94 yards with Eli Manning failing to shove him out of bounds along the way.
“It would’ve been real embarrassing to get tackled by the quarterback,” said Wright. “I definitely didn’t want that to happen. I just tried to give myself enough room to make a move if I had to.”
If Wright does not get the interception at that point the Giants were driving to make the score close with 8 minutes to go in the game. Instead it was all Browns. The intended receiver was Amani Toomer and he was headed for a touchdown if Wright does not show up.
Wright’s 94-yard touchdown return of a Manning interception with 8:07 left was the play of the game, snuffing out what was shaping up as a nail-biter finish. Wright cut in front of intended receiver Amani Toomer at the 6 and then sprinted down the left sideline, tip-toeing at one point to avoid getting knocked out of bounds on a shove by Manning.
Anderson then punctuated a big night with a pass to Edwards for the two-point conversion.With his job perhaps on the line with another loss, Anderson enjoyed a happy reunion with Edwards. Anderson was 18-of-29 for 310 yards and two touchdowns and didn’t commit a turnover.
This game not only marked an uprising for Derek Anderson, but a revival of sorts for the much maligned Braylon Edwards.
He finished the game with five catches for a career-high 154 yards and an 11-yard touchdown catch that gave the Browns a 27-14 lead five seconds into the fourth quarter.
Before the TD catch, Edwards had receptions of 49 and 70 yards in the first half. The 70 yarder, on which he beat cornerback Aaron Ross down the right side on an out-and-up, set up Jamal Lewis’ 4-yard touchdown run two plays later.
“I wanted to be like Reggie Bush [who had two TDs last week on Monday night football],” said Edwards.
Edwards’ 129 yards in the first half were more than the 95 total he had coming into the game.
Photo source Newscom
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