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| Giants and Buccaneers at MetLife Stadium |
Rich and I didn't have tickets but we were able to round up a few outside. I wound up paying $40 for a ticket and I helped him get one for $50. We both paid a lot less than the face value. With that being said, we did real good.
We wound up sitting in section 146 on the lower level which is in corner of the end zone which gave us some great views of the action. In addition, we had a giant screen behind us which keep us abreast of all the other games that were being played at the same time. I felt like I was at a sports bar. It was amazing to be able to watch a live game and when we went to a commercial break I got to see the other action from around the league.
As for the game we saw, the Giants won the field goal battle in the first quarter as they lead 6-3. In the second quarter, the Buccaneers took the lead as they scored two touchdowns to go up, 17-6. The Giants answered back as Eli Manning found Hakeem Nicks for a touchdown to slice into the lead as they made it 17-13. Just before the half ended, Manning threw an interception and to add insult to injury thanks to shoddy tackling, Eric Wright of the Buccaneers ran it back 60 yards to extend the Buccaneers' lead to 24-13 at the half.
In the third quarter, the Buccaneers tacked three more thanks to a 52 yard field goal by Connor Barth to go up by a score of 27-13. The Giants added a few field goals to cut the deficit to eight points at 27-19 early in the fourth quarter.
With the game coming to a close, it was time for Eli Manning to step up and work his fourth quarter magic. He didn't disappoint the crowd as he hit Victor Cruz on a bomb that covered 80 yards that got the Giants within two with 6:48 left in the fourth quarter. With that being said, they decided to go for the tie. Andre Brown who was having a monster day due to an injury to Ahmad Bradshaw took over the spotlight as he ran in the two point conversion to tie the game at 27. As a result, the crowd at MetLife Stadium erupted.
A few minutes later with 3:59 left in the fourth quarter, Manning hit Martellus Bennett for a 33 yard touchdown pass that gave the Giants the lead, 34-27. The Buccaneers weren't done yet. Josh Freeman awoke from the dead as he connected with wide receiver Mike Williams who made a great over the shoulder catch in the corner of the end zone that we were sitting in. What a view we had of it. That tied the game up at 34 with 1:58 left in regulation.
Rich and I were thinking about a possible overtime. Eli Manning and the Giants had other ideas. They got the ball back and they marched down the field again. This time they found the end zone again after Andre Brown purposely went down at the two yard line so they could kill more time. The next play Andre Brown ran in for the go ahead score to give the Giants a 41-34 lead. That's the way it ended but it appeared from my point of view that the Buccaneers got screwed on an apparent great catch by Mike Williams again. This time he made what looked like an amazing catch at the Giants' 16 yard line. He got hit hard by Antrel Rolle who knocked the ball loose while he was out of bounds. In my eyes, it was a catch and fumble out of bounds. They reviewed and they claimed he didn't have control of the ball and he lost it so it was ruled an incomplete pass. I was furious with the decision being an astute football fan. The next play Josh Freeman threw an interception which preserved the victory for the Giants. The Buccaneers blew the lead so they didn't deserve to win but it seemed like a bad call to me. What a game we saw despite that so called non catch.
With five seconds to go, Rich and I raced out of the Stadium so we could catch the bus back to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan. By doing so, I got home in no time for a change.
Thank you for reading and following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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