By the time you read this, you will have already fully digested the New York Giants’ first home playoff win since 2000. The wings, beer and pizza will have settled in your stomach. You will have listened to enough sports talk radio recapping the day’s events. But before we move on and look forward to the Giants’ matchup in Green Bay, I want to present you one more positive look at Sunday’s, 24-2, win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Here are the five stars of the game:
Hakeem Nicks: Nicks has been overshadowed by Victor Cruz’ success this season. Despite that, he remains one of the Top 10 wideouts in the league, and was on full display against the Falcon defensive backs. Nicks hauled in two touchdowns on six catches for 115 yards. The 72 yarder was also a career high.
Brandon Jacobs: I saw something different in Jacobs this afternoon. Do you ever tense your entire body when working out and simply give it all you’ve got? That’s what Jacobs looked like. He lowered his head and was ready to plow over defenders. The result was 92 yards on 14 carries.
Eli Manning: The key for Manning was not turning over the ball. He threw three touchdowns and no picks on 277 yards. Manning doesn’t get the credit he deserves in terms of being a top quarterback, but that’s because when he’s bad, he’s real bad. Most of the time, though, he’s very good. He’ll need to more than that next week at Lambeau Field.
Corey Webster: The Giants cornerback did a stellar job covering Atlanta’s top receiver, Roddy White, all day, holding him to just five catches for 52 yards. Webster also had two pass deflections and four solo tackles.
Antrel Rolle: The entire New York defense should actually be mentioned here after completely shutting out the Falcons, whose only points came on a safety. As mentioned with Webster, Rolle also played a factor in holding Atlanta to just 199 yards in the air. He and Chase Blackburn led the Giants with nine tackles.
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