Half-time report: Giants 27, Browns 17

The Giants were very sloppy in the first five minutes of the game and it cost them two touchdowns. Ahmad Bradshaw fumbled on the first play and the Browns quicky turned that into a Trent Richardson rushing touchdown. Then with 10:03 remaining in the quarter WR Josh Gordon caught a 62 yard pass down the seam and ran it into the endzone. This was the result of blown coverage. Gordon was only covered by LB Chase Blackburn who did all he could to keep up with the speedy reciever. Safety Antrelle Rolle hesitated and was not able to reach Josh Gordon in time to assist Blackburn.

The Giants showed no spark in the beginning of the first quarter but they got their act together.  At the end of the first quater scored as a result of a 6:41 minute, 11 play, 92 yard drive in which Victor Cruz caught a 3 yard touchdown pass from Manning.

In the second quarter, the Giants looked great. They executed very well and dominated the Browns. We saw WR Rueben Randle making excellent catches and there were two Browns turnovers. Strong Safety Stevie Brown made two big plays. First, he intercepted a pass from Brandon Weeden that led to an Ahmad Bradshaw 4 yd rushing touchdown. Second, Will Hill stripped the ball from RB Joe Cribbs and Stevie Brown was there for the recovery. This led to a 7 yd passing TD from Manning to Cruz.

Ahmad Bradshaw looks to be trying to make up for the fumble. He gained one TD and 66 yds but the stats don’t tell the whole story. He looks great, he’s not dancing in the backfield and he’s making people miss tackles. This is the best we’ve seen him run all season.

Just one injury of note. Andre Brown left the game early in the first quarter with a head injury as a result of impact with the ground.

The Giants looked like defending Super Bowl champs in the second quarter.