2 Time Super Bowl MVP and Super Bowl Winner New York Giants QB Eli Manning

By Michael Eisen
October 23, 2016

LONDON – Given the events of Sunday afternoon in Twickenham Stadium, a more appropriate dateline for this story would be LANDON.

Giants safety Landon Collins made the game’s most influential plays, and was the best player on the field, as the Giants once again made themselves feel right at home in England with a 17-10 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. The Giants improved to 4-3 at the bye with their second straight victory – and second in as many visits to London, where they beat Miami nine years ago.

Rashad Jennings’ 1-yard touchdown run with 9:23 remaining was the game-winner – as well as the only points scored in the second half – but it was Collins, the second-year safety, who left the largest imprint on the game.

With the Giants trailing, 10-3, in the second quarter, Collins intercepted a Case Keenum pass that was tipped by intended receiver Tavon Austin and willed his way 44 yards down the field and across the goal line for the game-tying score. It was his first touchdown since his sophomore season at the University of Alabama, when he scored on an interception return at Tennessee.

“(I feel) fantastic,” Collins said. “I mean, my first career touchdown in the NFL. Fantastic. A memory I never want to forget. Definitely a game-changing moment for the team. Got the ball back and changed momentum.”

But Collins wasn’t finished. In the fourth quarter, he picked off another Keenum throw to Austin. He returned that one 18 yards to the Los Angeles 35. Six plays later, Jennings gave the Giants a lead that held up to the end of the game.

When he wasn’t picking off passes, Collins was flattening any Rams player who had the misfortune to find the ball in his hands. He led all players with eight solo tackles, most of the jarring variety.

By many measures, this was a bizarro game for the Giants. The defense that finished 32nd in the NFL last season controlled an opponent with an impressive collection of weapons, on a day when the Giants’ offense sputtered throughout.

“We try to be top 10 in the NFL in defense,” Collins said. “It (was) 32, and we try to make a big difference from that standpoint.”

The Giants entered the game with three takeaways in six games, and a minus-10 turnover differential that was the league’s second worst. They reversed field with four interceptions (including Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie’s two in the end zone on the Rams’ final two possessions) and a healthy plus-3 differential.

“We’ve been saying that turnovers come in bunches,” coach Ben McAdoo said. “They did today.”
Even the running game, held to less than 80 yards in five of the last six games, came up big – if not lengthy – when it counted. After a 22-yard pass to Odell Beckham, Jr. gave the Giants a first down at the Rams’ six, three power runs by Jennings all but forced the ball into the end zone.

But it was Collins who turned the game in the Giants’ favor with his pick six.

“When I saw (Austin) coming over the middle, I was breaking toward him to make the tackle. The ball just went through his hands, popped up, (and I) got it. When I caught the ball, I had to switch back to running back from my high school days. When I got to the sideline, I looked up the field and saw a lot of (Rams) blue, and I glanced to my left real quick and saw all my white (jersey) guys over there. I said, ‘Let me cut back to the left.’ So I got back over there, and my guys led me to the touchdown.”

“That was a tremendous effort by Landon,” McAdoo said. “He looked like a running back. For him to be able to tuck the ball away and push the pile through the end zone shows a lot.”

More bizarre: Collins had one career interception entering the game, none this season.

“Definitely was due for me,” he said. “My biggest problem was not running to the ball when it was in the air and stuff like that, because it’s so far away. I made it a thing of mine to run to the ball to just make sure because you never know. Tipped balls happen, and it happened for me today.”

“He shows up all over the field,” McAdoo said. “He’s a very productive young player. He’s a tremendous tackler, which I don’t think he gets enough credit for. He’s getting better playing the ball – you saw that tonight.”

The Giants needed heroics from Collins and the defense, because the offense was seldom in rhythm all day. The trouble started on the game’s second snap, when tight end Larry Donnell fumbled after an 8-yard gain. The Giants ran for only 36 yards and totaled 13 first downs. They fell behind 10-0 in the first quarter for the second week in a row. The Giants’ longest offensive play, a 25-yard Eli Manning pass to Victor Cruz, was 19 yards shorter than Collins’ big return. That was likely due in part because their leading receiver and most dangerous threat, Beckham, was not 100 percent because of the hip pointer he suffered last week.

“(Beckham) fought through some things today, as did a lot of other guys,” McAdoo said. “It was a gutsy performance. He made a nice play in the green zone that kept the (game-winning) drive alive and helped us score a touchdown.”

But McAdoo conceded that it was “a tough day for the offense. That’s a good defense we faced. We completed the ball at a decent rate (64.9 percent). Third down was a tough down for us (they converted four of 13 opportunities). We need to work on getting the running game going.”

But those deficiencies were not fatal because of Collins and a defense that did not allow a point in any of the Rams’ final 11 possessions.
“Big plays right there by Landon,” Manning said. “Obviously, (on) offense we hadn’t done a whole lot. Had a turnover the second play of the game, which is never good. Defense had given up a touchdown, so we were down, but a big play right there. We drove down and got a field goal to make it 10-3, but Landon getting the interception and also putting it in the end zone and scoring right there was a huge play to tie up the game. Switched the momentum for us a little bit.”

That was the understatement of the day.