[GAME RECAP: GIANTS COME ROARING BACK IN THE FOURTH QUARTER FOR A 20-17 WIN OVER MIAMI.
](http://www.giants.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Giants-Defeat-Dolphins-20-17/5f0740d7-0ba7-40d5-a939-5493573c285d)They made their fans sweat it out, cross their fingers and hold their breath, but the angst and anxiety were worth it when the Giants rallied from deficits of 11 points in the first half and seven points in the fourth quarter to defeat the winless Miami Dolphins Sunday in MetLife Stadium, 20-17.
Victor Cruz scored the game-winning touchdown on a 25-yard pass from Eli Manning with 5:58 remaining. It was the Giants' only lead of the game.
The Giants improved to 5-2 for the seventh time in Coughlin's eight seasons as head coach (they were 6-1 in 2008). Miami fell to 0-7, but it wasn't the Dolphins' record the Giants talked about after the hard-fought game.
**POSTGAME QUOTES
**Coach Coughlin:
"We talked about this earlier in the week and I will say it again, they play hard. They are in every game. Every game is a knock down, drag out in this league. That has never changed and I don't think it ever will. I didn't want to say much during the week because of the nature of playing them, but I think Tony Sparano is a hell of a coach. He got his guys ready to play under really difficult circumstances. If you can imagine being up 15-0 and losing the game then having to come in here on the road the following week, I give him a lot of credit. He was on my staff at one time and I think he is a heck of a football coach. You have to take your hat off to the Miami team. They came in and played hard. We weren't as sharp as we thought we were going to be. The second half was better defensively. We played better and got some heat on the quarterback. We made some nice tackles and prevented some big plays. Offensively, we just had enough. I would have liked to finish the game better. I would have liked to have the ball in our hands. We came right out with a foolish penalty, which cost us. Miami is a relatively penalty-free team and we had to do a heck of a job with that. We got some penalties called that I wasn't pleased about. We didn't turn the ball over and that is two games in a row with that and that is an outstanding job." *FULL TRANSCRIPT
BOX SCORE**
|
|
MIA |
NYG |
|
1st Downs |
18 |
21 |
|
Passing 1st downs |
7 |
19 |
|
Rushing 1st downs |
8 |
2 |
|
1st downs from Penalties |
3 |
0 |
|
3rd down efficiency |
5-13 |
8-16 |
|
4th down efficiency |
1-2 |
0-1 |
|
Total Plays |
53 |
69 |
|
Total Yards |
246 |
402 |
|
Passing |
101 |
344 |
|
Comp-Att |
13-22 |
31-45 |
|
Yards per pass |
4.6 |
7.6 |
|
Rushing |
145 |
58 |
|
Rushing Attempts |
26 |
23 |
|
Yards per rush |
5.6 |
2.5 |
|
Red Zone (Made-Att) |
2-2 |
1-3 |
|
Penalties |
4-30 |
7-46 |
|
Turnovers |
1 |
0 |
|
Fumbles lost |
0 |
0 |
|
Interceptions thrown |
1 |
0 |
|
Defensive / Special Teams TDs |
0 |
0 |
|
Possession |
27:34 |
32:26 |
