Eli Manning made amends for an awful second quarter by throwing a career-best 510 yards to lead the Super Bowl champion New York Giants to a 41-34 comeback win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Manning threw three second-quarter interceptions that led to three Tampa Bay touchdowns and a 24-13 halftime deficit, but he brought New York back in a thrilling last quarter in which he threw two touchdown passes and another bomb to set up the game-winner.
The victory levelled the Giants record to 1-1 after their NFL season-opening loss to the Dallas Cowboys last week. Tampa Bay dropped to 1-1 after winning their first game against Carolina.
“No one wants to start 0-2,” said Manning, who engineered six fourth-quarter comeback wins in the last regular season and another in the Super Bowl.
“It’s a big win, big win, especially after a first half playing poorly and last week not playing well. The second half was good. Some big time plays, stepping up when we needed it. That was fun.”
In the fourth quarter, Manning’s 80-yard strike to Victor Cruz followed by a two-point conversion run in by Andre Brown tied it 27-27 and a 33-yard touchdown to tight end Martellus Bennett gave New York a 34-27 lead with less than four minutes to play.
Then it was Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman’s turn to spark a fight back as he hit Mike Williams for a 41-yard leaping catch in the end zone for a touchdown that knotted the game 34-34 with just under two minutes left.
