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E-GIANTS By DAVE KLEIN He had just been given four bags of intravenous solution, and four is a lot. He stood there, a little wobbly and answered some questions. It should be noted that we are speaking about Giants' wide receiver Amani Toomer, who is 32 years old and who yesterday, in extreme heat, established career highs for receptions in the Giants dramatic 30-24 overtime victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. He had caught 12 passes for 137 yards. He had two touchdowns of 37 and 22 yards. He did not single handedly beat the Eagles, but he had more than most in the doing of the deed. "It hit me in the fourth quarter," he said, smiling weakly. "I just suddenly felt weak. And you know what? I don't think I would have been able to play another play. I was all out." Toomer holds most of the Giants' career receiving records and in this, his 11th season, he insists he is as fast as he ever was. "No, I don't think I've lost any speed," he said. "I take good care of my body. I work out all the time. I just got tired and it was so hot and we were playing so hard and not getting anywhere." Toomer, who feigned annoyance when someone reminded him of his age -- "oh, thanks for that," he said -- looked back on this memorable game and offered his opinion. "Nobody [on the Giants] panicked," he said. "We stuck together in a hostile atmosphere. We had to win and for a long time it just didn't look like we would, but we managed. This was a key game for us, because going 0-2 for the season and 0-1 in the division would have been terrible." So 12 catches and 137 yards and two touchdowns later, not to mention four bags of saline IV, the veteran helped deliver the Giants from what he said would have been terrible. Another hero was a youngster, quarterback Eli Manning. In only his third NFL season (and second as a starter) he showed guts and stamina by holding it together to deliver the final knockout blow. He completed 31 of 43 passes for 371 yards and three touchdowns. He was sacked a cruel eight times. But his QB-rating was a lofty 111.7, and afterwards he looked at the game as a milestone of sorts. "It was a huge win," he said. "It was at times downright ugly but we didn't turn over the ball and when we put in the no-huddle offense things worked better. The Eagles had to simplify their defense, and we finally got it to go into an overtime." Somebody asked if he felt, once the game was in the overtime period, if he felt confident that the Giants would win. He laughed. "Hey, Plaxico [Burress] was hurting and Amani was cramping and Jeremy [Shockey] hurt his ankle again," he said. "Confident? I don't think I would use that word. But I felt we had a good chance." If Manning's game must be condensed into two plays, they were easy to define. One was a falling-down, off-balance, sidearm pass completed to wide receiver Tim Carter who was flanked by two defenders. It was a 22-yard gain to the Eagles' 40, and there was, to the naked eye, no way he could have completed it. "I thought I had a chance on that pass," he said. "Tim made a great move to come back to the ball, and I just threw it while some guy had me around one leg. I tried to put enough strength into it." It was a pass the awed head coach Tom Coughlin. "It was maybe only a pass Eli could have made," he suggested. "He had been a little frustrated earlier because nothing was working. When we went into the no-huddle he had an opportunity to do some more things, and that was one of them." Coughlin commented on Manning's "other" tremendous pass, the game-winning, game-ending touchdown toss to Burress. "He used the receiver's height and he threw the ball just the right way, so only Plaxico could have made the catch." But then he issued a note of caution, damping the ebullient enthusiasm. "There are still a lot of games to play," he said. "This was just the second one. It was crucial for us. It makes a lot of difference, but it was just our second game." EXTRA POINTS -- Tiki Barber gained just 51 yards rushing, his lowest figure since he had a mere 38 against Washington in 2004. ... The defensive back Burress beat for the winning touchdown, the guy he won the "jump ball" contest against, was Sheldon Brown, who is 5-10 and gives away eight inches to Burress. "That's one of Plaxico's gifts," Coughlin said. "That's part of what makes him a great receiver." In addition to Toomer's 12-catch, 137-yard day, Barber had seven receptions for 57 yards, Burress six for 114 and the winning touchdown. ... In all, Manning distributed his 31 completions to eight receivers. ... Brandon Jacobs chipped in with five carries and 35 yards while having a 16-yard run negated by a holding call on center Shaun O'Hara. Chad Morton returned to his kickoff return duties, taking back four for 86 yards, but next week the Giants will face the return specialist they waived on the final cutdown day, Willie Ponder, who was claimed by the Seattle Seahawks. ... Manning was sacked eight times, a career high for him. ... He was sacked 27 times last year (in 16 games), and his highest single-game sack total was five -- against the Eagles in 2004, his second all-time career start. The Giants had 404 total net yards, the Eagles 451. ... They had 24 first downs to 23 for the Eagles and registered only one sack, by Osi Umenyiora. ... But they won the game, and in the end that's the most important statistic. Weakside linebacker Carlos Emmons had 11 tackles, all solos. ... Strong safety Gibril Wilson was next with nine, middle linebacker Antonio Pierce had eight and cornerback Sam Madison had six. ... Where were the defensive linemen? ... Umenyiora was the first of that group, with three, but he had the sack. Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS
where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here. NEW - Send a request to davesklein@aol.com for a free week's worth of news!
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