Minnesota Vikings vs New York Giants Match Player Stats On Oct 21, 2013

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 21, 2013

Giants 23, Vikings 7: Eli Manning threw for 200 yards and a touchdown as host New York ended its season-opening six-game losing streak.

Manning threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Rueben Randle early in the second quarter for the go-ahead score and Peyton Hillis accounted for 81 total yards and a TD five days after he was signed by the Giants (1-6). Josh Brown kicked three field goals for New York, which avoided dropping seven straight to start the season for the first time since opening 0-9 in 1976.

Josh Freeman, signed two weeks ago following his release by Tampa Bay, had a miserable debut with Minnesota (1-5), completing 20-of-53 passes for 190 yards and an interception. Marcus Sherels' 86-yard punt return accounted for the only TD for the Vikings, who got 28 rushing yards from Adrian Peterson and managed 206 total yards against a defense that came in allowing a league worst 34.8 points per game.

Sherels erased an early 3-0 deficit when he zipped 86 yards down the left sideline in the final minute of the first quarter. Manning responded by capping an 82-yard drive with a strike to Randle, who outjumped cornerback Chris Cook for his fourth touchdown in three games to give New York a 10-7 halftime edge.

Befitting a game pitting two teams that entered with one win between them, there were three turnovers and an easy drop by Sherels of a sure interception return for a TD in a five-minute span early in the third quarter. The last of those miscues, a fumbled punt by Sherels, was recovered by New York at the 3-yard line and set up Hillis' 1-yard plunge for a 17-7 lead with 8:37 left in the quarter.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Giants had a 17-play march on their opening possession of the game that consumed 9:36 - the longest drive in the NFL this season. They also had a 16-play drive that ate up 8:31 bridging the third and fourth quarter. ... Sherels' punt return for a score was the third allowed by the Giants this season. ... Giants RB Brandon Jacobs was inactive due to a hamstring injury to place a heavy workload on Hillis, who had five catches for 45 yards and rushed for 36 yards on 18 carries.