giants survive mauling by bengals, 26-23, in overtime victory!

wow, apparently the 0-2 bengals didn't get the memo that the giants were supposed to win this one. the giants did win - but cincinnati made them earn it. what an incredible game - what else can be said when the lead changed six times, the giants put 7 points on the board with 1:50 left on the clock, and the bengals spend all but 4 seconds of that time driving into field goal range and kicking one through to send the game into overtime?!!

and if the final 2 minutes of regulation play wasn't stressful enough for giants fans - overtime was yet another rollercoaster ride. the giants won the toss, but did nothing with the first overtime possession. cincinnati returned the favor and promptly gave back the ball with a go-nowhere possession. but it got heart stopping when manning connected with toomer for a 31-yard completion, that danced along the white line!

in a rare act of unified sprinting, the team hurried up and got off a run - which killed any chance for review of the catch! after the run, coughlin went immediately to the field goal (skipping the riskier chance of a couple of shots at the end zone). the 44 year old carney stepped up and put the game to bed when he nailed the 22 yard chip shot.

all i thought about watching it yesterday was how different this game was from last week. here, in the bengals, was a team that could have imagined winning its 3 game to break the horrible 0-2 start (and dream about a giant-like run from that 1-2 start all the way to the superbowl). they were on that field to play some serious football - and they earned some serious respect.

here is what coughlin said after the game:

"It ended up being really the power of the will. It wasn't our best game, by any means, but we hung in there, we kept battling and scrapping and we found a way to win against a good football team."

now the giants can take the 3-0 record (their best start since 2000) into the bye week. dallas, unfortunately, had the luck to win last night - so they too sit atop the division, unbeaten this season, side-by-side with the giants.