Giants Stand Tall in Win

Four of the AFC’s best teams took backward steps Sunday, and the backpedaling secondary of the New York Giants gave a beleaguered city something to cheer.

On a day when Denver, Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Miami lost, the Giants broke up three consecutive New Orleans passes from their nine-yard line to preserve a 21-13 victory.

“I wish you could just put that whole scene on Memorex,” Giant linebacker Michael Barrow said.

“It’s a reflection of what this city is all about. We may look like we’re down and out, our backs are against the wall, but we’re coming out fighting. We put on that NY, man, we represent a city and what that city’s all about. We’re going to fight until the fat lady starts singing.”

Or, in the case of Sunday’s game, Tony Bennett.

He opened the pregame ceremony with a rendition of “America the Beautiful,” the Harlem Boys’ Choir sang the national anthem, and the crowd of 78,451 cheered wildly for the guests of honor, representatives from the New York police and fire departments.

“When they were doing the national anthem, I got goose bumps,” said Giant fan Kevin Sharlow of Washington, N.J.

“It’s not like I was going to break down and cry. But everyone felt it.”

Everyone felt the cold and worsening drizzle too, and half the crowd left when it appeared the Giants had victory in hand.

They led, 14-3, through three quarters, and 21-10 with 6:05 remaining. But when the Saints kicked a field goal at the 4:36 mark, then pounced on a fumble by quarterback Kerry Collins on the ensuing drive, New Orleans had a chance.

Saint quarterback Aaron Brooks completed six of eight passes and got a first down at the nine with a six-yard run on third and five.

After spiking the ball to stop the clock with 15 seconds to play, Brooks fired three consecutive passes into the end zone. Safety Sam Garnes and rookie cornerback William Peterson made beautiful plays to break up the first two.

But it was the third that left the Giants--and those fans who stuck around--thinking they might have made a huge mistake.

Receiver Willie Jackson made a spectacular one-handed grab over cornerback Emmanuel McDaniel and the half-filled stadium fell silent.

After a breathtaking pause, three yellow flags pelted the turf. Jackson was guilty of two infractions, pass interference and touching the ball after stepping out of bounds, and the game was over. The flags were nothing new. Officials threw them 25 times in the game, with the Saints drawing 14 for 102 yards, and the Giants 11 for 100.

“It was like those guys were off for a while and they missed throwing their flags,” Giant receiver Amani Toomer said, “because they were out in full force.”

Meanwhile, in Landover, Md., heavy security blanketed FedEx Field on Sunday in the first home game for the Washington Redskins since the terrorist attacks.

“We significantly increased the number of uniform officers here at the stadium. That let people know that we’re serious,” Karl Swanson, senior vice president of the Redskins, said before the team lost to Kansas City, 45-13.

Uniformed officers with bomb-sniffing dogs and electronic scanners patrolled the stadium hours before kickoff, delaying many people from getting to their seats. But fans didn’t seem to mind being searched.

“It’s not that much of a problem for me,” said longtime Redskin fan Legrant Campbell.

In Denver, the Super Bowl champion Ravens returned to form with a 20-13 victory over the Broncos at Invesco Field.

Denver, which mustered three points in an AFC wild-card game last season, scored a touchdown 20 seconds into the game then was kept out of the end zone for the rest of the day.

“I think we talked about it all week, they really don’t have any weaknesses,” Bronco Coach Mike Shanahan said. “They have great speed, a great pass rush and they play hard too. Not to say we played our best game, but give them credit.”

The most surprising outcome of the day was New England, woeful and winless, whipping Indianapolis, 44-13.

“You envision the things that are going to happen in a game, all the possibilities,” said Patriot backup quarterback Tom Brady, who replaced injured Drew Bledsoe.

“Never did I think it would be the runaway victory that it was.”

Suddenly interception-prone, Colt quarterback Peyton Manning threw three--two of which were returned for touchdowns--bringing his three-game total to seven. And he has built a reputation as one of the smartest, most accurate quarterbacks in the game.

Jacksonville was on its way to its first 3-0 start when it ran smack into the Browns, who couldn’t get past midfield the last time the teams met.

But this is a different Cleveland team, one that intercepted seven Detroit passes a week earlier.

On Jacksonville’s first offensive play, defensive end Keith McKenzie flattened Mark Brunell, who was forced to flip a pass to Stacy Mack. The ball wound up in the hands of Cleveland’s Orpheus Roye, and Brunell wound up on another planet--victim of a hit that left him woozy.

Brunell tried to shake off the collision but had to leave because of persistent headaches. He suffered a concussion, although its unclear how serious it is.

In a battle of unbeaten teams, St. Louis roasted Miami, 42-10. Kurt Warner threw four touchdown passes, running his record to 16-0 in the Dome at America Center.

San Diego rookie LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for touchdowns on three consecutive possessions in the second half, helping the 3-0 Chargers to a 28-14 victory over Cincinnati.

“You saw the holes I had to run through,” said Tomlinson, the first Charger back to score three touchdowns since Natrone Means in 1994.

“That’s what it came down to in the second half. Oh my goodness, when I saw those holes, I’m thinking, ‘Where’s everybody at?”’

The Chargers might be saying the same thing when they look around the AFC. After all, they have the only unblemished record in the conference.

Meanwhile, deep in the hallways of their home stadium, the 2-1 Giants talked about how good that game-clinching defensive stand felt.

“It was like a Kodak moment,” Barrow said. “You could look at it in their eyes and see the fire in people’s eyes.

“There was none of that, ‘I need to go out, I’m tired.’ It was like, ‘I’m laying it on the line every play.’

“And, ‘Man, it’s going to be me making the next play.”’