NFL Recap (NY Giants-San Diego)
Posted: Mon September 28, 1998 at 12:16 a.m EDT
NY GIANTS 34, SAN DIEGO 16
SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Former Charger Gary Brown's four-yard
touchdown run late in the first quarter ignited a 21-point first-half
outburst and the New York
Giants picked off rookie Ryan Leaf four times in a
34-16 victory over San Diego.
Safety Percy
Ellsworth returned Leaf's final interception 20 yards for a score
midway through the third quarter to give the Giants (2-2) a 28-9 lead after
John Carney had sliced
New York's advantage to 12 points with three field goals.
Leaf completed 15-of-34 passes for 193 yards for the Chargers (2-2)
one week after passing for just four yards in a loss to Kansas City. He
was pulled following Ellsworth's score and was replaced by Craig Whelihan, who
connected on 6-of-15 for 97 yards and one score.
"We will stick with him (Leaf) and we said from the outset that we
realize there would be some tough times and this was one of those today,"
said Chargers coach Kevin Gilbride. "We just hope he'll be able to grow
from it and will benefit from the experience and recognize how precious
that ball is and try to cut down and reduce the turnovers."
Whelihan's 41-yard TD strike to Charlie Jones with just
over 10 minutes to play in the third quarter brought the Chargers within
28-16. But Brad Daluiso
kicked field goals of 32 and 19 yards over a 6:55 span of the final quarter
for New York to provide the final margin.
"It was great to get in there, I wanted to give our offense a spark
and I wanted to help chip away the Giants lead," said Whelihan. "I wish we
could have gotten more touchdowns, but you've got to give credit to the
Giants, they played a great game."
Danny Kanell hit
on 17-of-33 passes for 208 yards and one touchdown for the Giants, who
rebounded from an embarrassing 31-7 loss to Dallas on Monday night.
"We needed to show the mental toughness to go on the road and win,"
said Giants coach Jim Fassell.
New York broke a seven-game losing streak on the West Coast, including
a 20-17 setback to Oakland in Week Two.
Brown, who carried 20 times for a game-high 66 yards, put the Giants
on the scoreboard 10:52 into the game when he capped a methodical 12-play,
70-yard drive with the four-yard TD run.
On the ensuing possession, cornerback Carlton Gray picked off
Leaf and returned it 36 yards to the San Diego 36-yard line. Two plays
later, Kanell found Chris
Calloway for a 25-yard scoring strike. A one-yard plunge by Charles Way 7:08 into the
second quarter made it 21-0.
Calloway hauled in six passes for 94 yards and Ike Hilliard had 71 yards
on five catches for the Giants.
Carney hit from 41 yards late in the second quarter, connected on a
46-yarder on the last play of the first half, and was good from 34 yards
5:27 into the third quarter. The final field goal was set up when Leaf
connected with Webster
Slaughter on a 31-yard strike to the Giants' 22.
San Diego appeared to gain momentum when it stopped the Giants on the
next possession, but Leaf gave that and the game back to New York when his
pass over the middle was intercepted by Ellsworth, who raced towards the
left sideline into the end zone.
Behind Brown, New York rushed for 105 yards after gaining just 209
yards on the ground in the season's first three games.
Bryan Still caught
a career-high eight passes for 104 yards for the Chargers, but Natrone Means, who entered
averaging 101 yards on the ground, had 56 yards on 11 attempts.
"I think we've got a good team, but we just can't put it together,"
said Still. "We just keep turning the ball over and we won't win any games
doing that."
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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