New York Giants Down Dolphins, 31-24

The New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins last night to snap a three-game losing streak and stay alive in the mediocre NFC East race, in no small part because of Eli Manning and – guess who? But things changed a bit on Monday night, both in the eyes of those on the outside and, in all likelihood, for many in the Giants’ locker room and organization as well. – James Kratch, NJ.comIt was playoff-caliber preparation and execution by the two players (Manning and Beckham Jr.) who will need to put the Giants on their backs if they are to lug this shabby roster into January.

“It was a big win also for the fact that it came down to the fourth quarter and we had to make some plays and we had a four-minute drive at the end there where we had to get some first downs to keep the ball and we did that”, Manning said after the game. This is what the Dolphins fans wanted to see on a big play: winning big games, just like Manning and Beckham.

MANNING’S BEST: The Giants quarterback went 27 of 31 for 337 yards and four scores. He had a passer rating of 151.5, just shy of the ideal rating of 158.3. It’s now a three-way tie in the NFC East between the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles and the Giants.

Really, this game was like a yearbook for their whole season – until the team got to graduation and went against script. Until then, this game was a microcosm of the 2015 Giants. They have played 32 games on Sunday night in their history (the first in 1987) and are 15-17 in those games (9-8 at home and 6-9 on the road).

When you throw the same number of touchdowns as incompletions I would say you had a pretty good day.

Miller rushed seven times for 69 yards in the first half and looked explosive on touchdown runs of 14 and 38 yards. The 100-yard game was his sixth in a row, a Giants record. A quarterback from Alabama hasn’t won an National Football League game as a starter since Jeff Rutledge in 1987, according to Stats LLC. “But we made the plays in the fourth quarter”. Originally called incomplete, the replay showed OBJ dragging his feet in-bounds to record the touchdown. Miller scored twice in the first half, including a silly touchdown run that saw him travel about 1,000 yards before actually scoring.

NY tied the score 24-24 on a 6-yard TD pass to Beckham in the right corner.

Campbell said health wasn’t an issue for former Pro Bowl cornerback Brent Grimes, who has played poorly of late.

After the game against the 49ers (4-9), the Bengals play at Denver in a game that will go a long way in determining the playoff seeding. Like the 2015 Giants, they were filling their well-established roles. It could be Campbell, but Monday night’s lack of discipline didn’t do much to bolster his case for getting the job on the permanent basis. Two weeks ago, the Giants placed starting right guard Geoff Schwartz on season-ending IR with a fracture in his left leg. All season, NY has been dealing with injuries to every position across the line, substituting guys like Dallas Reynolds and Bobby Hart into starting roles.

Here are the top performers from Miami’s latest loss in 2015.

On the other side, Lamar Miller posted 89 yards and his two touchdowns on 12 rushes.