Defense rebounds from Seattle game, keeps Giants close vs. 49ers

As if the Giants' defense did not have enough to worry about after a week hearing about its worst-in-the-NFL rank, Eli Manning increased the degree of difficultly Sunday by coughing up five (5!) interceptions against the 49ers.

That could have and perhaps should have turned the game into a rout, but thanks to a drastic improvement on the other side of the ball, the Giants stayed close enough to make things interesting in a 16-10 loss at MetLife Stadium.

Not that anyone was taking bows afterward.

As veteran end Mathias Kiwanuka put it: "I don't want a moral victory; I don't want anybody to pat half of us on the back. I want us to get a win as a team."

That has not happened since Oct. 5.

"It's bad, man, it's bad," end Jason Pierre-Paul said. "There ain't really too much to say."

But now that the Giants will be playing primarily for pride -- and for future employment opportunities -- down the stretch, give the defense credit for restoring some of theirs after allowing 350 rushing yards in last Sunday's loss to the Seahawks.

That dropped them to 32nd in a 32-team league in allowing an average of 404.9 yards per game, 144.7 against the run, and marked the first time in franchise history they had allowed at least 423 yards in four consecutive games.

Grading on a curve compared to that, Sunday was an "A,'' even if they did give up 333 yards, 148 on the ground. The key was that they kept the score within reason by allowing a mere one field goal after Manning's turnovers.

And even that came on a 3- yard drive after the 49ers took possession at the Giants' 29.

The other four San Francisco drives after interceptions ended three times with punts and once on downs.

"It's about having amnesia in this league," safety Antrel Rolle said. "We probably played our worst defensive game last week, and I think the coaches did a phenomenal job game-planning and coaches did a phenomenal job of adjusting through the entire course of the game."

The Giants were better able to deal with a similar read-option quarterback in Colin Kaepernick compared to their struggles against Seattle's Russell Wilson. Kaepernick threw for 193 yards and ran for 24.

"That was obviously a point of emphasis," Kiwanuka said. "That's how the league goes. When you put something negative on film, you expect to see it again and again and again until you prove you can stop it. Obviously, I think we did a pretty good job on that particular play."

Linebacker Jameel McClain said, "I want to look at the film and find out what it was that resonated with guys and made guys stay committed to exactly what we had to do."

There was a crucial mistake early in the third when Kaepernick found Michael Crabtree for a 48-yard touchdown catch-and-run for a 16-7 lead, but mostly the Giants bent without breaking.

"We executed our plays better and played that read-option better, too," Pierre-Paul said.

When asked if he was happy with how they limited Kaepernick, he lost patience and said simply: "We lost the game, man. I'm not happy about anything right now."

Said Kiwanuka: "If you make 10 plays in a game and 11 would have gotten you a win, you need to make that 11th play."

He added that he had nothing bad to say about Manning and Co.

"We had some letdowns on the defensive side of the ball and I never heard one offensive player say anything that wasn't motivational," he said. "There are positives to take from , but a loss is a loss."

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.