Giants Defense Stops Buccaneers Cold

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- On a cold, blustery afternoon, the New York Giants displayed the depth of their defense. Despite playing without three injured defensive starters and losing another early, the Giants held Tampa Bay to 174 total yards and set up a score with a turnover deep in Buccaneers' territory in a 17-3 victory Sunday.

"You know what? I'm not surprised because the backups, the guys who came in, are like starters," Pro Bowl defense end Michael Strahan said after the Giants (5-2) won their fourth straight game. "They are players."

During the winning streak which started after a bye week, the defense has allowed 42 points, and hasn't given up a touchdown in the last two home games.

The Bucs (2-5) were 2-for-16 on third-down chances and 0-for-3 on fourth-down opportunities in seeing their two-game winning streak snapped. They also fumbles six times, losing one important one.

What made this performance so impressive was who the Giants were missing.

All-Pro defensive end Osi Umenyiora (hip), strongside linebacker LaVar Arrington (season-ending Achilles' injury) and starting cornerback Sam Madison (hamstring) were all out. Weakside linebacker Brandon Short went down early with a quadriceps injury.

Rookie Mathias Kiwanuka, veterans Carlos Emmons and R.W. McQuarters, and rookie Gerris Wilkinson replaced them, respectively, and coordinator Tim Lewis' group didn't miss a beat in the game played with winds gusting to more than 40 mph.

Kiwanuka, a first-round draft pick, had his first sack and six tackles. Wilkinson had three sacks, a pass defended and a forced fumble. Emmons had three tackles and McQuarters one.

"We're still hungry," said defensive tackle Fred Robbins, whose fumble recovery set up Brandon Jacobs' 1-yard, second-quarter touchdown run that gave New York a 14-0 lead.

"We know we've got a good team," Robbins said. "We knew we had a good team when we were 1-2. We just had to put the pieces together. We know there is still more work to be done, but we are getting where we want to be."

Eli Manning and Plaxico Burress provided the offense for the early lead. They combined on a 7-yard, first-quarter touchdown pass and a 25-yard wind-blown catch that led to Jacobs' TD run.

Jay Feely added a 31-yard field goal with 3:43 to play.