Giants win the opener over the Rams 23-13.
Kerry Collins was 14-of-26 for 202 yards.
Giants defense sacked Kurt Warner 6 times.
Mike Barrow had two of those sacks and a forced fumble.
Kenny Holmes recovered one of Kurt Warner's 6 fumbles in the endzone for a touchdown.
Omar Stoutmire led the Giants with 10 tackles, 9 unassisted.
Matt Bryant kicked field goals of 24, 47 and 44 yards.

Game Notes:
"It was a beautiful day to be at the stadium, and everyone was anxious for the game to start. We were about to see the Rams, a quality team go up against the Giants. It was surprising to see Kerry Collins sacked for nine yards on the first play of the game, but then Tiki Barber got them to 3rd and 8, and Shockey caught the next one and turned it into a first down. Tiki ran for another first down, and Ike Hilliard caught a pass for seven, but the Rams held.
Punter Jeff Feagles came in and did what he gets paid for, and he really stuck it to the Rams. They had to start off at their own 3 yard line. The Giants defense had them three and out and our old friend Sean Landeta punted to Brian Mitchell, who got it to the Giants 49.

Everything was going pretty good with field position and on offense, defense and special teams, but then the Giants began to slowly self destruct. There had been a penalty on the return, Kerry Collins was incomplete to Ike Hilliard. Tiki got nowhere up the middle, and then he fumbled the ball away on the next play, so the Rams had it at midfield.
The Giants defense came on strong and sacked Kurt Warner, knocking the ball loose. The Rams recovered but were three and out, and Kerry Collins next pass was complete to Ike Hilliard for 14 yards. His next pass to Hilliard was fumbled with the Rams recovering and Tiki Barber getting hurt on the play. The Rams turned that into a field goal for the first score of the game. I wasn't the only one beginning to worry right then.

Except for a 22 yard catch by Amani Toomer, the Giants didn't get far on the next drive. It didn't help that the special teams unit started them off with another holding penalty, but once again Jeff Feagles came through, and the Rams were stuck at their own 6 yard line. A few plays later, Kenny Holmes downed the ball that Kurt Warner fumbled in the endzone, and Matt Bryant's kick had the Giants up 7-3.

I tell you, up to that point I couldn't relax. There was a lot going on in this game, and we were still in the 1st quarter. Who would have thought with all the talk about the Giants offense, that it would be our defense to score the first touchdown, and the first points of the season to give us the lead? The defense was in Warner's face all day. The offense made some big plays, but it was the defense that won this game for us."

Game Notes:
"You can usually expect some rust in the first game of the year, but this one was pretty sloppy for both teams. I guess that's what happens when the head coaches baby their seasoned players and keep them out of the preseason games. They hope they'll have just enough game play under their belts to make it through the first game and still come away with a win.

That could go either way, and this time, thanks to the defense, the Giants were the lucky ones. Both teams made their share of mistakes, the kind you hope they aren't still making by the second or third game. There were tired players who hadn't built up enough endurance during the preseason. Like I said, it works out just fine for the team that wins, and luckily, the Giants did that.

The Giants were also lucky late in the game when their offensive line was hurting. They weren't handling the pass rush all that well, and they were able to just hand off to Tiki Barber, and that works for first downs. Aside from Tiki Barber turning in one of his usual great performances, it was nice to see Omar Stoutmire, and Ralph Brown coming up big in this game. Those two seem to draw too much unwarranted criticism for the level of play they regularly bring to the game."

Marshall Faulk was held to just 28 yards on nine carries.

Tiki Barber, who dislocated a finger in the first quarter, led the Giants' offense with 146 yards rushing on 24 carries.

Brian Mitchell, picked up during the offseason acquisition, scored his first rushing touchdown since 2000.

Giants first-round draft pick William Joseph came up with a sack in his first game.
The ball popped loose and Kenny Holmes fell on it for a touchdown.

Amani Toomer has caught passes in 68 consecutive regular-season games.
Toomer needs 28 yards to pass Frank Gifford as the team's all-time leading receiver in terms of yards (5,434).

Giants forced four turnovers, three fumbles and an interception (by Omar Stoutmire, who also led the Giants with 10 tackles, nine unassisted).

Giants left tackle Luke Petitgout left the game in the second quarter with back spasms.

This was the 21st time in Fassel's seven years as coach that a back has rushed for at least 100 yards. The Giants are 17-4 in those games.

Kerry Collins has thrown 1,999 passes as a Giant and needs one to become the third quarterback in Giants history with 2,000, joining Phil Simms (4,647) and Charlie Conerly (2,833).
The 202 yards boosted Collins' total as a Giant to 13,967, moving him past Fran Tarkenton (13,905) and into 3rd place on the franchise's career list, behind Simms (33,462) and Conerly (19, 488).

Giant punter Jeff Feagles added to his NFL records: most consecutive games played by a punter (241), and most punts placed inside the 20-yard line (two, increasing his total to 378).

Rams S Jason Sehorn (broken foot) was inactive.

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