Wiesloch allgemein » Crazy as it may sound

Crazy as it may sound Scott Miller Jersey , the New York Giants are starting to believe they have a chance to make a run at the playoffs.It’s amazing what a couple of wins can do for a team after a 1-7 start.Saquon Barkley ran for a career-high 142 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Giants held off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38-35 on Sunday to win consecutive games for the first time since December 2016.“I think there is some excitement going around,” said Eli Manning , who hit 17 of 18 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns. “It is good. It is a good feeling to have in the locker room and you see some growth. You see the improvement.”What the Giants (3-7) are doing is making plays and finishing. The running game has picked up and it’s opened up the passing game, and the defense is forcing turnovers. The group intercepted four passes in sending the Bucs (3-7) to their fourth straight loss with linebacker Alec Ogletree returning one 15 yards for a touchdown.“I just know that we’re playing better and I just love to see these guys in here after the game with smiles on their faces,” said receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who caught an 8-yard touchdown pass. “We just put it all together, so it’s always a lot more fun when you win.”Playing in the NFC East also helps increase the belief the Giants are not dead.Washington, which fell to Houston and lost quarterback Alex Smith for the season to a broken leg, leads the division with a 6-4 record. No other team has a winning record.“We’ve got a long way to go, there are a lot of things we’ve got to get better at, but if we can just keep battling and fighting, who knows?” coach Pat Shurmur said. “That would be a fun thing for everybody to write about.”The Giants never trailed as Manning found a wide-open Barkley on a 6-yard TD pass on the opening series, and the No. 2 overall pick in the draft scored from 5 yards out on the second possession to give New York the lead for good.“We’re finishing games and we’re finishing drives, and that’s what we weren’t doing in the first half of the season,” Barkley said of his first winning streak as a pro.Tampa Bay made things interesting after Jameis Winston replaced a turnover-plagued Ryan Fitzpatrick in the third quarter and led four touchdown drives. The last score came on a 41-yard pass to Mike Evans with 2:22 to play and got the Bucs within 38-35.The Bucs got the ball back at their 20 with 23 seconds to play, but B.W. Webb intercepted Winston’s long throw down the sideline to ice the win.After Tampa Bay got within 31-28, Manning, whose only incompletion came on a short pass to Barkley late in the second quarter Scott Miller Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jersey , connected with tight end Evan Engram on a 54-yard pass and run on the second play after the kickoff, and Barkley capped the drive with a 2-yard run with 3:52 to play.The Winston-to-Evans TD pass closed the gap to three points again.“It hurts me when I have to see my team lose a game because I turned the ball over,” Winston said. “And I’m sure it hurts Fitz. And I’m sure it hurts anyone that has a hand in what they believe led the other team to winning. That’s our main focus. We have to find a way to win.”Fitzpatrick scored on a fourth-down 1-yard run for the Tampa Bay, which squandered a chance to score on its opening possession when Fitzpatrick was stopped on a quarterback sneak inside the Giants’ 5.Evans recovered a fumble in the end zone in the third quarter to start the comeback, Peyton Barber tallied from 5 yards out and Adam Humphrie s and Evans caught TD passes in the fourth quarter to get the Bucs within three points twice.Winston finished 12 of 16 for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Barber rushed for 106 yards on 18 carries. Evans had six catches for 120 yards. Fitzpatrick was 13 of 21 for 167 and the three interceptions.INJURIESBuccaneers TE O.J. Howard left the game in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. Giants DL Kerry Wynn left the game in the second half with a concussion.WELCOME SACKJason Pierre-Paul, the Giants’ 2010 first-round draft pick, returned to face his old team for the first time since being traded in the spring. He had 1陆 of the Bucs’ four sacks. He helped Manning up after the first sack.“I just said to him: ‘Get up, stop falling,’ but no, I was just helping him up because that used to be my old teammate and I’m not trying to hurt him, I’m just trying to play football and have good sportsmanship,” Pierre-Paul said.Kareem Martin had the Giants’ first and only sack in the last three games.UP NEXTBuccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.Giants: Travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles on Sunday. Ryan Fitzpatrick isn't the only reason the surprising Tampa Bay Buccaneers are off to their fastest start in eight years.Speedy receiver DeSean Jackson is making a difference, too, finally beginning to deliver what the team has been expecting since signing him in free agency before last season.Fitzpatrick has thrown for 819 yards and eight touchdowns in victories over New Orleans and defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia the past two weeks. Jackson has a pair of 100-yard games receiving and three TDs — two of them on plays of 50-plus yards."It's unbelievable. He's playing out of this world right now," said Jackson, who scored on a 75-yard reception of the first play of scrimmage in Sunday's 27-21 win over the Eagles."He's in his prime," the 31-year-old receiver added of the 35-year-old quarterback who's filling in for suspended starter Jameis Winston. "Us old guys, we are in our prime. He's playing like he's 28 and I'm playing like I'm 24. So as long as we keep doing that Cheap Scott Miller Jersey , it's going to be a good year."Jackson, coming off a disappointing debut with the Bucs in 2017, has nine catches for 275 yards and three TDs the past two weeks after having one of his least productive seasons with 50 receptions for 668 yards and three TDs in 14 games a year ago.He followed a five-catch, 146-yard, two-TD performance against the Saints with a four-catch, 129-yard performance against the Eagles.And with TDs of 58 and 75 yards this season, he's eased ahead of Hall of Famers Lance Alworth and Terrell Owens for the third-most TD receptions of 50-plus yards behind Hall of Famers Jerry Rice (36) and Randy Moss (29).Jackson, who spent six seasons with the Eagles and three with the Washington Redskins before signing a three-year, $33.5 million contract to join the Bucs, has 23 career TDs of 60 or more yards — tied with Rice for most in league history."I talked about this since I was younger, it's being legendary and leaving something for the league to understand that I made my mark, man," Jackson said. "I still have a lot of ball left in me. To tie Jerry Rice's records is very emotional for me."When Tampa Bay signed Jackson in March 2017, the Bucs were coming off a 9-7 finish the season before and envisioned the speedy wideout adding a much-needed element to their offense: a deep threat not only capable of stretching defenses, but someone able to turn short completions into big gainers."For me, it's unbelievable to have a guy like DeSean out there running around," Fitzpatrick said. "Loft the ball up and he can go get it and turn it into a 75-yard touchdown. He's a special player, and he showed that again."Through two games Scott Miller Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jersey , Fitzpatrick has four completions of 50-plus yards, all for touchdowns. In addition to teaming with Jackson on the first play against Philadelphia, the 14-year veteran connected with tight end O.J. Howard on a 75-yard catch-and-run play against the Eagles.Meanwhile, four-time 1,000-yard receiver Mike Evans and second-year pro Chris Godwin each have two TD receptions."We have good skill guys. ... Chris Godwin is an emerging star. O.J. Howard is an emerging star. DeSean Jackson, Mike Evans (are) proven, big-time players," coach Dirk Koetter said. "If you really think about it, we've still got Cam Brate and Adam Humphries, who just aren't getting very many chances right now."Next up is a Monday night matchup against Pittsburgh at home, with a chance to begin a season with three consecutive wins for the first time since 2005."You can't peak too early. We have a lot of football left," Jackson said."We have a big one coming up with Big Ben (Roethlisberger) and AB (Antonio Brown) coming to town," the receiver added. "I grew-up a Steeler fan, so I'm going to be amped up for that game too."