The Giants beat the Buccaneers 24–0 yesterday, but really, the score doesn’t do their effort justice. Where to begin? A week after allowing Dallas to run the ball pretty much at will, the Giants held the Bucs to a mere 28 yards on the ground. And after a quiet first two weeks, Ahmad Bradshaw (104 yards) and Brandon Jacobs (92 yards) each rushed for more yards than the entire Tampa Bay offense (86 yards).
The Giants went 3–5 in the red zone, after going 0–8 in the first two weeks. The defense, a week removed from a shaky game in Dallas, held Tampa Bay to just five first downs — the first of which didn’t come until late in the third quarter. David Carr got to play. The world was introduced to Gartrell Johnson’s hair. There was even a Sinorice Moss sighting! And in the end, it was the Giants’ first shutout since 2005, and their first on the road since blanking Philadelphia in 1983.
Games like this tend to be no-wins for the favorite: Win, and you’re just doing your job; lose, and it’s a terrible upset. But there’s a third category: Win in such a thoroughly dominant fashion that you make it noteworthy for that alone. If you absolutely must be critical of something, there was that Lawrence Tynes field-goal miss from just 21 yards. But we’ll cut him some slack since he did just kick the game-winner last week. (Let’s all just agree to point and laugh next time we see him.) Otherwise, game balls all around.