Giants 24, Buccaneers 14

Giants march on after beating host Buccaneers

Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. -- First stop, Tampa. Next stop, Texas. You won't hear the New York Giants complain their next stop is on the road.

The Giants improved to 8-1 away from home with a dominating 24-14 NFC wild-card playoff victory over the Buccaneers on Sunday. New York has won every away game since falling in its season opener against the Dallas Cowboys, and it gets a chance to diminish that blemish in a much bigger re-match next Sunday, with the winner going to the conference title game.

"We love playing there, we love going down to Dallas," Eli Manning said. "There are no secrets.

"It's a tough challenge against Dallas, we know that. We played them two times; maybe the third will be the charm."

As for concerns the Giants (11-6) left too much of themselves on the field in futilely trying to stop New England's perfect season on Dec. 29, well, forget it. After a lackluster first quarter, New York bullied the NFC South champion Bucs, who lost three of their last four regular-season games, including the final two when coach Jon Gruden rested many starters.

"We weren't sluggish, but it was not like we were the week before," said Giants veteran receiver Amani Toomer, who had a big game. "We needed one play to get us going and for me to be the guy, I was excited."

He was the guy often, making seven receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown.

It was the first postseason win after two defeats for Manning, who efficiently outplayed his counterpart, Jeff Garcia. Manning went 20-of-27 for 185 yards, with almost all the damage coming after a forgettable opening period in which New York had minus-2 yards of total offense.

The oft-criticized Manning should draw nothing but praise for his performance, which included touchdown passes of 5 yards to Brandon Jacobs and 4 yards to Toomer. The score by Toomer completed a clinching 92-yard, 15-play drive.

"Eli had a great game today," Toomer said. "He took what was out there and didn't force anything. He doesn't get real excited; there is more than one way to lead a team ... and he showed that today."

RECAP:
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap?game_id=29518&displayPage=tab_recap&season=2007&week=POST18