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For a player who was undrafted and virtually unknown, Victor Cruz has a way of finding big plays — or perhaps they just find him.
Cruz had the Giants’ fate in his hands throughout yesterday’s roller-coaster fourth quarter, with a long highlight reel touchdown, a costly fumble and an even costlier deflection for an interception the Seahawks turned into a touchdown in Big Blue’s 36-25 loss.
With the Giants bidding for their third straight fourth-quarter comeback win, a pass from Eli Manning that defected off Cruz’s left hand was intercepted by cornerback Brandon Browner, and he returned it 94 yards for a game-sealing touchdown.
PHOTOS: SEAHAWKS BEAT GIANTS, 36-25
“It’s tough to go up and down, a lot of highs, everybody cheering for you, then a lot of lows, you fumble. Then highs again, you make a third-down catch and then lows again, you get the tipped ball returned for a touchdown,” said Cruz. “It’s tough. [But] I consider myself a pretty strong-willed person. I’ll break through this.
“My mother told me nothing can ever be just simple with you. You can never just have a good game. You always have to have a crazy catch, or you’ve got to fumble or something. She’s like ‘What’s up with you?’ I said ‘I don’t know, ma. I’m just trying to play, do my best out there and it seems like big plays like to follow me.’ ”
Coming off a career-high six catches in last weekend’s win at Arizona, Cruz — a graduate of now-defunct Paterson (N.J.) Catholic, who went on to play college ball at Massachusetts — made big play after big play yesterday for an encore.
He had eight catches for 161 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown on an out-and-up early in the fourth quarter. Strong safety Kam Chancellor tipped the ball in the air and Cruz tapped it up to himself, snared it at the Seattle 25-yard line and raced in for the touchdown. The Giants went for two and Ahmad Bradshaw ran it in for a 22-19 lead, the home team’s first of the game.
But it was Cruz’s fumble on the Giants’ very next possession — forced by Walter Thurmond while Cruz was fighting for extra yards — that gave the Seahawks the opportunity to kick a game-tying field goal.
The Seahawks led 29-25 when Cruz and Manning mounted one last drive, hooking up for consecutive completions of 41 and 19 yards to give the Giants first-and-goal at the Seahawks’ 5. A false start cost the Giants 5 yards, but a slip from Cruz out of his break on the next play — forcing him to try to extend his arm for an impossible catch — cost them far more.
“As soon as I went to grip it, I got hit. It got bobbled up in the air,” Cruz said. “I knew it was all downhill from there, because there were two guys there and I knew one of them was going to pick it off.”
The ball bounced off Cruz’s hand, then off safety Kam Chancelor and to Browner, who raced for the backbreaking score.
“You always want to win, and when you do something to negate that you feel bad,” Cruz said. “It’s tough.”