The Giants offense was a mess for most of the first half, but they finally found some footing late in the second quarter against the Ravens.
After running just 12 plays on their first four possessions, the Giants ran 13 plays and moved the ball 80 yards for their first points of the afternoon. Eli Manning hit wide receiver Roger Lewis for a 24-yard touchdown that marked the 300th touchdown of Manning’s career and the first NFL catch for Lewis.
The biggest play on the drive before the touchdown came when Manning found Victor Cruz for 10 yards on a fourth down near midfield. The choice to go for it seemed to spark the offense, although th ere was more grumbling as the half ended, however, as the Giants opted for a somewhat conservative approach after getting the ball back with a minute to play. Manning was intercepted on the final play of the half when there was little choice but to throw downfield.
That score closed Baltimore’s lead to 10-7 and provided some hope that the Giants offense can find better footing after a half that included a lot of booing from the home crowd for Manning and company.
The Ravens offense started with a productive drive called by new coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and turned an Odell Beckham fumble into a touchdown off a short field, but they had less success the rest of the half. Some of that was due to the Giants, who had two sacks, and some was thanks to eight penalties that interrupted some of the team’s momentum.
Joe Flacco is 12-of-23 for 129 yards and Terrence West has 60 yards on 12 carries to lead Baltimore’s offense. Manning is 14-of-22 for 107 yards and the Giants have continued to have no success running the football.