Giants Daily Blitz Blog

Giants vs. Bucs Live Blog: 1st QTR

0:00 — GIANTS 6, BUCCANEERS 3 (key stat: Tampa 0-2 on third down conversions)

0:56 — LB Chase Blackburn sacks QB Josh Freeman for a loss of 7 yards, the first of the game.

2:58 — FIELD GOAL GIANTS. Tynes 24-yard FG attempt is GOOD. GIANTS 6, BUCCANEERS 3 (drive: 12 plays, 63 yards in 5:48).

*Giants fail to capitalize on a first-and-goal at the 2.

5:50 — Ahmad Bradshaw sparks the crowd with a 12-yard run after Cruz’s 20-yard catch-and-spin-and-run (broke four tackles).

7:21 — Rookie RB David Wilson gets his first carry since his fumble in Week 1 — a 4-yard counter.

8:53 — FIELD GOAL BUCS. Tampa Bay responds with a 45-yard FG. GIANTS 3, BUCCANEERS 3 (drive: 7 plays, 60 yards in 4:01)

*Tynes is 2/2 on the season after going a perfect 8/8 in the preseason.

12:48 — FIELD GOAL GIANTS. Lawrence Tynes’ 37-yard FG try is GOOD. GIANTS 3, BUCCANEERS 0 (drive: 6 plays, 51 yards in 2:17)

14:22 — WR Hakeem Nicks looking healthy as ever with a 40-yard leaping catch from Manning on the second play of the game.

15:00 — Game Day Captains: DT Linval Joseph and WR Victor Cruz in addition to season captains QB Eli Manning, DE Justin Tuck, and LS Zak DeOssie Tampa Bay wins the toss, elects to defer. Giants will defend the west goal.

This week’s game will be the 18th regular season meeting between the two teams, with the Giants leading the series, 11-6. In the last meeting, the Giants defeated the Buccaneers, 24-0, in Week 3 of the 2009 season in Tampa.

Kickoff: 1 p.m. ET

Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ

TV: FOX - This week’s game will be broadcast nationally with Joe Buck calling the action, Troy Aikman serving as the analyst and Pam Oliver handling sideline duties. (click here for full TV & Radio listings)

Weather: Sunny. Mild. 64 °F, Wind: 6.89 mph/NW

FLIP CARD CHANGES:

NEW YORK

» CB Jayron Hosley (start in place of Prince Amukamara)

TAMPA BAY

» RT Demar Dotson (Jeremy Trueblood)

Today’s Official Game Program

Inside the Locker Room: Playing After a Long Wait

After kicking off the NFL season last Wednesday, the Giants have had a longer than usual wait to avenge their opening loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Several players talk about the importance of getting back on the practice field…

QB Eli Manning
“Well I think the guys did a good job, coming in, the attitude after the game on that Thursday saying ‘we got to play better’ but everything that occurred is very correctable and it comes down to fixing it, making better plays, better decisions during the game and I think that was a good mentality. We can fix this, we got to work a little bit better.”

WR Victor Cruz
“We had a couple of days off and got to see a lot of football being played this past Sunday and had to wait another week so we’re kind of anxious to get out there. I could tell by practice today, when really some of the guys were really playing hard and really paying attention to detail, so we’re starting to get out there and starting to get back at it.”

RB Ahmad Bradshaw
“I mean we kind of want to start it off with a win this year and we knew that was a big game for us divisional wise…it didn’t go exactly how we wanted last week offensively and defensively and we’ll just have to prove our point.”

Top 10 Tuesday: Leading Rushers

With 78 yards in Week 1, Ahmad Bradshaw moved into ninth place on the Giants’ all-time rushing list.

Here is a look at the top 10 in franchise history:

CLICK HERE TO VIEW GALLERY OF TOP 10 LEADING RUSHERS

Giants vs. Cowboys Live Blog: 3rd QTR

0:00 — COWBOYS 17, GIANTS 10

0:45 — FIELD GOAL COWBOYS. Giants hold Cowboys to 33-yard field goal. COWBOYS 17, GIANTS 10 (drive: 8 plays, 65 yards in 4:31)

1:33 — Linval Joseph sacks Romo for a loss of 9 yards. The Giants have 2 sacks in the game, both from defensive tackles.

5:19 — TOUCHDOWN GIANTS. A play after Hixon’s catch, Ahmad Bradshaw rushes to the left for a 10-yard touchdown. XP is good. COWBOYS 14, GIANTS 4 (drive: 9 plays, 89 yards in 5:13)

6:09 — And Hixon does it again, making the highlight reel once again with a 39-yard leaping grab deep in Cowboys territory.

10:19 — Hixon gets on the board with a 12-yard catch.

10:32 — TOUCHDOWN COWBOYS. Romo to Ogletree for a 40-yard score. XP is good. COWBOYS 14, GIANTS 3 (drive: 9 plays, 80 yards in 4:36)

15:00 — Giants will kickoff to begin the second half.

Daily Blitz: GM Reese once dreamed of being a head coach

Once a hard-hitting defensive standout at the University of Tennessee at Martin, Jerry Reese always dreamed of becoming the head coach at his alma mater. Look at where he is now.

The general manager was recently profiled in The Pacer, the official newspaper of the college in his home state, and spoke about his journey from humble beginnings in Tiptonville to winning his second Super Bowl last season.

“I had to schedule my classes around football and make sure they were balanced. I had to work for my scholarship,” said Reese, who was a grad assistant and then a secondary coach at Martin from 1988 through 1993 after being named team MVP his senior season. “With my background and leadership qualities I learned at UTM by being part of a team, I still use those skills today.

“You’ve always got to dream big. I always dreamed of being head coach at UTM at some point and look where I am now.”

Charley Deal, a close friend and assistant vice chancellor for alumni relations, sees what he’s done today.

“For someone who came from his background, Jerry pushed himself and was hard on himself,” Deal said. “He worked around the clock to make himself better.”

QUICK HITS

» NFL.com and NFL Network analysts gave their 2012 predictions on stats leaders, MVP, rookie awards, and more. Jason Pierre-Paul appears to be on the short list for Defensive Player of the Year.

» Barden builds on momentum. [Kieran Darcy, ESPNNewYork.com]

» ESPN.com’s NFC East blogger Dan Graziano continued his ranking of the top 20 players in the division. WR Hakeem Nicks came in at No. 6, with five players to go (one player announced a day).

Other Giants in the rankings so far:

8. Justin Tuck, DE, Giants

10. Victor Cruz, WR, Giants

18. Osi Umenyiora, DE, Giants

20. Ahmad Bradshaw, RB, Giants

Around the locker room: Giants talk preseason

Giants.com takes you around the locker room, giving you the pulse of the defending Super Bowl champs:

QB Eli Manning spoke about how the start of the NFL regular season is drawing near.

“Obviously, you still have a few more pre-season games to go. The second one, you’ll play a little bit more extended time with the starters. We’re also looking forward to that. We’re just looking forward to being in our own stadium and playing a game.”

The players returned to the Timex Performance Center on Thursday for their first practice since training camp in Albany, and RB Ahmad Bradshaw is eager to get back into the swing of things.

“It’s always good to be back home.  We have great facilities here, so I can’t wait to get back to them.”

He’s also eager to get the running game going.

“That’s the plan. In the running back room, we want to just get started and be a spark to this offense.”

Training camp is all about evaluating personnel. WR Victor Cruz was asked if any other receivers have jumped out to him.

“Ironically enough it’s been a little bit of everyone. Ramses [Barden] has had a great training camp, [Jerrel] Jernigan has had a great training camp, and [Rueben] Randle’s been doing some good things. It’s going to be tough for these coaches, I’m glad I’m not a coach or anybody working up top because it’s going to be tough to pick one of those guys or even two of those guys to be our third and fourth receiver.”