New York Giants Eli Manning
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

It was a throwback performance from Eli Manning and the New York Giants on Monday night, as the veteran QB led a game-winning drive.

Geoff Magliocchetti

  • New York Giants 27 (2-7)
  • San Francisco 49ers (2-8)
  • NFL, NFC, Final, Box Score
  • Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California

While it carried minimal stakes compared to some prior matchups, the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers, each armed with seven losses, played a prime-time game filled with dramatics. In the end, a familiar hero rose to the occasion.

Eli Manning found Sterling Shepard from three yards out with under a minute to go, and the Giants stole a 27-23 victory from the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on Monday night.

The Giants’ offense got off to a typical slow start, as a pair of punts sandwiched a Robbie Gould field goal to put the 49ers up 3-0. On the second San Francisco drive, however, BJ Goodson created the first interception young Nick Mullens’ career, his turnover setting the Giants up in prime scoring territory.

In a shocking twist, the Giants (2-7) took advantage, as Eli Manning found Odell Beckham Jr. from 10 yards out for the team’s first lead of the game.

San Francisco (2-8) would immediately strike back, using the new Nick Mullens-to-George Kittle connection to their advantage. The two hooked up twice for 37 yards on the trek, which ended with Matt Breida’s three-yard plunge to retake the lead.

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Each team would earn a field goal before the half let out, creating a 13-10 halftime lead for the 49ers.

The teams had major exchanges in the early stages of the latter half, but this time, the scores came in the six-point variety. Ironically, each score also ended up being the second score of the day for an offensive superstar. Breida first reached the end zone on an 11-yard pass from Mullens, before Odell Beckham Jr. returned the favor with a 20-yard hookup with Manning, a score set up by a strong Corey Coleman kickoff return.

The Giants would finally break through and tie the game on another Rosas field goal in the fourth quarter, one set up by the first multi-interception game of Goodson’s career, as the third-year linebacker took advantage of a Marquise Goodwin bobble.

While San Francisco would earn themselves another Gould field goal, nobody in Santa Clara could perhaps foresee how the evening would end: Eli Manning heroics.

With the Giants granted the ball and 2 minutes and 46 seconds to work with, classic Manning antics led to a go-ahead score. A nine-play, 75-yard trek ended in the arms of Sterling Shepard, as the receiver took a three-yard floater from Manning and came down with it clean, giving the Giants the lead.

With 53 seconds left, Mullens nearly led a victorious drive of his own, but, even with the assistance of a roughing the passer penalty from Lorenzo Carter, the signature moment fell just short, as a final play was launched in the back of the end zone.

The Giants will look to start a winning streak next week, as they return to MetLife Stadium to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday (1:00 p.m. ET, Fox)

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