Giants 34
Chiefs 24
As the Giants last night rallied from an early 14-point deficit and rolled to a 34-24 preseason victory over the Chiefs, it was not hard to imagine that the quarterback competition between Kurt Warner and Eli Manning is alive and kicking.
Warner started, Manning relieved and the rookie was more impressive in his debut than the former Ram was in his first game for the Giants. There was no knockout punch delivered, of course, but what’s certain is this: It figures to be a lively duel for a good bit longer this summer.
Warner played the entire first quarter and a handful of plays into the second and was uninspiring. He finished up 3-of-7 for 49 yards. Manning (7-of-13, 91 yards, two sacks) arrived on the field with 7:34 left in the second quarter to hearty cheers from the sparse Giants Stadium crowd. His first-ever NFL pass was on target, but dropped by tight end Visanthe Shiancoe. Manning’s second play, a handoff to a resurgent Ron Dayne, went for a 67-yard touchdown.
“I thought I played all right,” Manning said. “I didn’t turn the ball over, I made some smart decisions. I thought it was a decent first outing.”
Warner, who played three series, was able to get the Giants into the end zone once and needed help to do so. He was aided first by the officials, second by Dayne, who rushed for 118 yards.
Trailing 14-0 late in the first quarter, Warner took over on his own 38 and on first down he pumped-faked and simply dropped the ball, which was recovered by the Chiefs. The play was awkward-looking and immediately made observers wonder about the ball-security of Warner’s right hand, which has a history of thumb and pinkie problems.
“The ball just slipped out of my hand,” Warner said.
Coach Tom Coughlin challenged the call and it was reversed, ruled an incomplete pass. It was a fortunate break for Warner and he responded with his best moment of the night. Faced with a third-and-25, Warner stepped up into the pocket and drilled a 33-yard strike to tight end Marcellus Rivers. That kept alive the drive and enabled Dayne to bounce outside for a 29-yard TD.
Say this for Manning, he sure didn’t look nervous. During training camp he’s looked sharp (sharper than Warner) working the two-minute drill and that poise came through in his debut.
Manning got the ball with 1:09 left in the first half on his own 23-yard line. Throwing with confidence, he hit Rivers for 14 yard and then JaJuan Dawson for 24 more. A 26-yard pass interference penalty helped the Giants get in field goal range and even though Manning was sacked by Jimmy Wilkerson, who got past new right tackle David Diehl, the rookie moved his team close enough for Bill Gramatica to hit a 42-yard field goal as time expired to pull the Giants within 24-17.
The winning points for the Giants came after rookie linebacker Robert Peace recovered a fumble on the Kansas City 16-yard line in the fourth quarter. Jesse Palmer cashed in with 6:32 left, lobbing an 11-yard touchdown pass to David Tyree. Rookie running back Chris Douglas sealed the game with a 26-yard TD run with 1:54 remaining.
All the attention focused on the quarterback situation could not hide the fact that the Giants struggled on defense under new coordinator Tim Lewis. The Chiefs had 311 total yards in the first half.