A microcosm of Corey Webster’s career played out in the first half of the Giants’ 38-10 win over the Packers last night at MetLife Stadium.
Webster ostensibly gave the Packers all 10 of their points, but he also made perhaps the key play in the game.
Webster giveth and he taketh away.
The Giants had just taken a 7-0 lead on a crisp and commanding opening drive, climaxed by a two-yard scoring run by their touchdown-maker running back Andre Brown, who scored his eighth of the season and later suffered a broken leg.
A mere 114 seconds after Brown’s touchdown, Webster, the Giants’ veteran cornerback, was dusted so badly by a Jordy Nelson double move down the right sideline it looked like he was covering him on crutches.
Aaron Rodgers hit Nelson in stride with Webster lagging an area code or two behind him and he scored easily on a 61-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.
Carl Banks, the former Giants linebacker and current radio broadcaster, often refers to the talented but inconsistent Webster as a player who “has sometimes.’’
“Sometimes he plays and sometimes he doesn’t,’’ Banks said.
Banks’ premise is that the enigmatic Webster, perhaps relying too much on his talent, gets bored at times, loses track of his concentration and gets burned on plays he shouldn’t.
Webster even seemed to lose track of his integrity in the locker room after the game.
“I’ll be right back,’’ Webster told a Post reporter at his locker after the game as he walked into another room and never returned.
More important than his poor coverage of Nelson on the touchdown and his elusive locker room slip, Webster delivered when it mattered most on the field with 2:26 remaining in the first quarter, picking off a Rodgers pass intended for Randall Cobb at the Green Bay 33-yard line.
Webster’s pick, his fourth of the season, led to a 43-yard Lawrence Tynes field goal for a 17-7 Giants lead with 23 seconds remaining in the first quarter and the Packers never recovered.
Giants coach Tom Coughlin called the Webster play “huge,’’ praising defensive coordinator Perry Fewell’s “well-designed scheme.’’
“We repped that play so many times in practice, Coach Perry [Fewell] made an excellent call and Webby made an even better play, worked it to perfection,’’ Giants safety Antrel Rolle said.
“You’ve got to have a short memory back there,’’ Giants defensive tackle Chris Canty said. “Webby’s definitely an example of that. For him to come back after (the touchdown he allowed), keep playing and to come up with a play like that … it says a lot about him as a man and about his character.’’
In the third quarter, Webster was again the culprit on a poor play when he was called for a holding penalty on Nelson on a Green Bay third-and-11, giving the Packers a free first down. That led to a field goal four plays later to cut the Giants’ lead to 24-10 at the time.
Fortunately for Webster, the rest of his teammates played consistently well enough to negate the 10 points he essentially gave up to the Packers. It all added up to a huge win to end a two-game losing streak and give the Giants a two-game lead in the NFC East with five games to play.