Recap: NY Giants vs. Cleveland
Sports Network | August 18, 2008
East Rutherford, NJ (Sports Network) - Eli Manning threw a pair of first- quarter touchdown passes to Domenik Hixon and the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants held off the Cleveland Browns, 37-34 for their first preseason victory.
Manning connected on 4-of-7 passes for 52 yards, including 11 and 24-yard strikes to Hixon, who followed up the TD grabs by returning a kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown as the Giants (1-1) took a 23-3 lead after one quarter of play and held on to win.
Danny Ware led the Giants rushing attack with 97 yards on 10 carries, while Ahmad Bradshaw tacked on a rushing touchdown for New York's only score in the second half.
The Browns (0-2) not only dropped the game, but may have also lost starting quarterback Derek Anderson, who left the game in the second quarter after being sacked by Osi Umenyiora. Anderson completed 4-of-10 passes for 20 yards, but went to the locker room to be evaluated for a possible concussion.
The injury paved the way for more snaps from second-year signal-caller Brady Quinn, who threw for 124 yards and a touchdown on 7-of-12 throws.
Syndric Steptoe was the recipient of Quinn's 44-yard touchdown pass and also took a quick screen into the end zone for a seven-yard rushing score. Steptoe finished with 80 receiving yards on three catches, while Jerome Harrison led Cleveland with 36 yards rushing on just five carries.
Ken Dorsey added 143 passing yards and an eight-yard TD to Lance Leggett to make it a one-possession game with two minutes left, but Cleveland ultimately came up short.
