Manning, Giants' starting offense get untracked

It took a little over four minutes for Giants fans to exhale.

After three preseason games in which the starting offense struggled, Eli Manning led the team to a nine-play, 86-yard scoring drive Thursday night. It was worth only six points - the Giants muffed the extra point - but it went a long way toward relaxing the clamor of panic that had been brewing.

Even the Giants themselves knew how significant it was to get on the field against the Patriots, get points and get off the field to start preparing for the regular-season opener.

"That was what we wanted to do on the first drive," said Manning, whose Giants beat the Patriots, 20-17, to finish 2-2 in the preseason. "We wanted a nice, efficient drive that ended with a touchdown. We mixed it up. We had some nice runs, a couple good pass plays and even a couple big ones. We got in the end zone, executed and scored a touchdown.

"That's kind of how you draw it up."

Manning threw his first touchdown pass of the summer to Kevin Boss, a 13-yarder to the left that the tight end caught at the 10 and ran into the end zone. It was one of the least exciting plays of the drive, which included runs of 11 and 7 yards by Ahmad Bradshaw when it appeared he would be stopped at the line of scrimmage, a toes-in sideline catch by Hakeem Nicks for 12 yards on a key third-and-8, and a 17-yard check-down pass to Bradshaw. Boss caught a 22-yarder earlier in the drive.

"It was a good drive, a good drive," Tom Coughlin said at halftime. "Well-coordinated, good football, good execution, good performance. We were pleased with that drive."

With the business of resuscitating the offense completed on the first drive, the Giants went deep in their playbook for their second and final possession with their starters. Nicks took an end-around to the right for 15 yards, a play that teams might see the Giants run in the regular season. But two snaps later, the Giants ran a flea-flicker that you can bet will remain buried in the three-ring binder.

Manning handed off to Brandon Jacobs, who tossed the ball back to Manning. Under some pressure, Manning floated out of the pocket to his left and lost his grip on the ball. It bounced along the turf free for anyone to recover, but Manning made a smart play by diving in and batting the ball out of bounds.

It may have been smart, but it also was illegal, as he batted it forward. The result was a first-and-20 that they were unable to overcome, and the Giants were forced to punt after Manning missed Nicks on a deep ball on third down.

"We had some pretty good things going and then I had that penalty," Manning said. "We still should've converted on that third down."

Maybe that's the best sign of progress from the offense: They were getting greedy.

The defense wasn't quite as crisp as the offense, but there were some standout plays such as Antrel Rolle's interception of a pass from Tom Brady to Randy Moss and, later in the game, a fourth-and-goal stop from the 1 by Bryan Kehl and Jason Pierre-Paul on the first snap of the fourth quarter.

"We did some good things," Manning said, "and it was a good way to finish the preseason."