Odell Beckham’s first three months in the NFL weren’t fun. It started with a hamstring injury in training camp, jumped to a disagreement with New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin and eventually led to the feeling of letting down his teammates and himself. It just took one game for Beckham to feel like none of that happened before.
Beckham made his NFL debut a memorable one, catching a go-ahead 15-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning with 10:02 left to lead the Giants to a 30-20 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, extending their winning streak to three games.
Manning threw two touchdowns and Josh Brown added three field goals, the last of which was set up when the Giants sacked Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan on fourth down with 4:40 remaining. Ryan threw for 316 yards and a touchdown playing behind a banged-up offensive line that held up until the very end. Atlanta dropped its second straight since dominating Tampa Bay 56-14 on Sept. 18.
The Giants fell behind 20-10 on a 74-yard catch and run by Falcons running back Antone Smite after Antrel Rolle missed a tackle. Beckham, the 12th pick overall, missed all of the preseason and the first four games of the regular season. In the third quarter Sunday, he finally made an impact.
The Giants star wideout Victor Cruz was very excited and pleased with Beckham’s performance in his first game.
The Falcons’ line lost center Joe Hawley and right tackle Lamar Holmes with season-ending injuries last weekend and had left guard Justin Blalock out with a back problem. Peter Konz, Gabe Carimi and Harland Gunn replaced them and kept Ryan upright most of the game, helping them take a 13-10 lead.
Julio Jones on the other hand was the falcons go to weapon today have a great game. Julio Jones had eight catches for 88 yards in the half and finished with 11 for 105. He helped to set up two 20-yard field goals by Bryant and a 10-yard TD run by Jackson.
Manning finished 19 of 30 for 200 yards. Giants running back Rashad Jennings left the game in the second half with a sprained knee, and Williams got most of the carries. Also on a note, Giants new break out tight end Larry Donnell was held to zero yards and zero catches on the day. He did amazing in blocking schemes today as the Giants coaching staff had him protecting Manning all day. Look for him to bounce back big next week as a nice weapon for Eli.
The Giants once again got a nice win and added more confidence to this team as the offense and Eli are now clicking. They take on the Eagles next week in Philly on Sunday night football. As for the Falcons this was a bitter loss as they have got to find a way for their defense to pick it up, you can not win games in the NFL with just offense. They take on the Bears next week at home and will try to snag a win to get moving on the right track.
