While Victor Cruz danced in the end zone, rookie David Wilson (above) did flips after scoring his first touchdown. (AP)
One play in, Ahmad Bradshaw was trotting off the field, having lost the ball on a fumble. Two plays later, the turnover was turned into points and the Giants trailed 7-0.
“Everybody was telling me on the sideline that they have my back,’’ Bradshaw said.
A moment later, newly starting safety Stevie Brown was “taking the bait’’ as he described a blown coverage, leaving linebacker Chase Blackburn exposed and helpless to prevent a 62-yard Brandon Weeden to Josh Gordon touchdown pass. The Giants were down 14-0 to the winless Browns and five minutes had not yet run off the clock.
“My pregame talk was all about starting fast and that obviously got thrown out the window pretty early,’’ Eli Manning said. “They didn’t listen to me on that.’’
As a motivational speaker, Manning might need some work, but yesterday at damp MetLife Stadium he was part of an uncharacteristically diversified attack that responded by scoring 41 of the game’s next 47 points to restore order and steer the Giants to a 41-27 victory, keeping the Browns winless and somehow thrusting the still-inconsistent Giants (3-2) into the same record as the Eagles atop the NFC East.
“It didn’t start the way we wanted to, but along the way it got better,’’ coach Tom Coughlin said.
It couldn’t have started any worse. Bradshaw more than redeemed himself for his early fumble — he lost the ball when right guard Chris Snee accidently slammed into Bradshaw’s arm — with a career-high 200 rushing yards. Bradshaw rushed the ball 30 times and, with his offensive linemen urging him on, picked up 12 yards on his last carry to cross the magical barrier.
“I mean, as a running back that’s what you want,’’ said Bradshaw, who came into the game with 133 rushing yards all season. “I’m sure it sends a message to everybody.’’
The message sent early this season was that the Giants were not able to gain consistent yards on the ground.
“He’s been sticking with us throughout the struggles we had, it was good to get him to that mark,’’ Snee said of Bradshaw. “That’s a tough number to get to.’’
Soon enough, it became evident that once Manning got cranked up, the Browns were going to get crushed. He completed four passes to rookie Rueben Randle — whose work-ethic was questioned this week — and hit Victor Cruz for a touchdown to make it 14-7. The still-shaky Giants defense dropped Trent Richardson for a 2-yard loss and a Phil Dawson field goal made it 17-7.
The Giants scored the next 27 points — including 17 points in the last 2:52 of the first half.
“We never get down or frustrated or start to panic,’’ Manning said.
The key defensive play was Stevie Brown’s interception, as Weeden overthrew Gordon and Brown made the grab, stumbled, regained his footing and his 46-yard return put the Giants in Cleveland territory.
Bradshaw scored to make it 17-17, Will Hill forced a fumble on Josh Cribbs on the ensuing kickoff, Brown recovered it on the Browns 29-yard line and soon enough Manning hit a wide-open Cruz to make it 24-17.
“It’s never easy to get a turnover,’’ said Brown, starting in place of injured Kenny Phillips. “Back-to-back like that, it felt good. I was a little tired, but other than that it was good.’’
The rout was on. David Wilson eventually made it 41-20 with a jet-quick 40-yard touchdown run, his first impact on offense.
“We should start games at a deficit because it seems to get us woken up and starting to play,’’ Justin Tuck said.
Against someone else — maybe anyone else — the Giants would not have been able to sleepwalk through the opening minutes and fall behind by 14 points. Certainly not against the next opponent, as the Giants face the 49ers in San Francisco in a rematch of the last season’s NFC Championship Game. Issues on defense remain — there were no sacks against Weeden — but if the Giants are going to be able to run the ball with a shred of the effectiveness they did against the league’s worst team they will be difficult to stop.
“All these guys are competitive, Bradshaw’s like the pit bull though,’’ tight end Martellus Bennett said. “He’s an aggressive guy, when he grabs you he kind of like abuses you, you go ‘Why are you grabbing me like that?’ He’s a tough little [guy] and he goes hard.’’