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Giants edge Dolphins in first NFL game played in London

Oct 29, 2007 - 5:08 PM LONDON (Ticker) -- Even a trip overseas could not slow down Brandon Jacobs and the New York Giants.

Jacobs rushed for a career-high 132 yards at Wembley Stadium on Sunday as the surging Giants grinded out an ugly 13-10 triumph over the lowly Miami Dolphins in the first NFL regular-season game played outside North America.

It certainly was a far cry from the game the NFL was hoping for, as the Giants (6-2) and Dolphins (0-8) committed a combined 14 penalties, seven fumbles and three turnovers in front of the capacity crowd of 81,176.

"When you're on a world stage, you want to be representative of what the best the NFL has to offer," Dolphins kicker Jay Feely said. "You didn't the see the aerial game that the NFL provides on a weekly basis because of the conditions."

But despite the sloppy conditions and a poor performance by quarterback Eli Manning, New York posted its sixth straight victory. The Giants, who have a bye next week, are on their longest winning streak since 1994, when they closed out the campaign with six consecutive wins.

"When you're on a streak, you want to continue - you want it to continue," Giants defensive end Michael Strahan said. "You hate to have a break. But at the same time, we need a break.

"It's been long for us. If we're as good as we can be or should be, then then we should have no problem coming out of the bye week and playing as well as we have for the last five or seven (games)."

Conversely, the winless Dolphins prolonged the worst start in franchise history by dropping their 11th consecutive decision - also a team record - dating to last season.

"We're going to keep our eyes up - our head high," Miami first-year coach Cam Cameron said. "This group's got a lot of football left this season. There's eight games staring at us. Fortunately, we have a bye this week where we can go back and look at everything we're doing."

This was not the first time the NFL conducted a game outside the United States. In 2005, the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals met in Mexico City. The game drew 103,467 fans - the largest crowd for a regular-season game in NFL history.

Sunday's version of international football featured a muddy field and constant rain - conditions which stifled both teams' offense.

"I don't have any excuse about the conditions," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "We knew well in advance what it was going to be like. The weather forecast was right on the money."

"The conditions are the same on both sides," Cameron added. "It's just a matter of managing the weather, and I thought for the most part we did a good job. But there were just some critical plays that jumped up and bit us."

New York took advantage of the hapless Dolphins in the first half, pounding the ball consistently with Jacobs while applying relentless defensive pressure on Miami quarterback Cleo Lemon.

"I think the running game was probably a little more effective than the passing game," Strahan said. "The ball was slippery as well. I know our guys had a little trouble holding onto it."

Making his third consecutive start in place of the injured Trent Green, Lemon completed 17-of-30 passes for 149 yards. The 28-year-old Lemon capped his outing with a 21-yard touchdown pass to rookie Ted Ginn.

Manning was far less efficient, completing 8-of-22 attempts for just 59 yards. But Manning's poor performance was offset by Jacobs, who carried 23 times to pick up the bulk of New York's 192 rushing yards.

Owning a 3-0 lead, the Giants finally got into the end zone with 59 seconds remaining in the first half when Manning rushed for a 10-yard score. Manning's second career rushing TD capped a 14-play drive which lasted just over eight minutes.

After Strahan recovered a fumble by Lemon at the Miami 34, New York padded its lead when Lawrence Tynes drilled a 41-yard field goal to make it 13-0 at halftime.

The Dolphins showed signs of life in the third quarter, as Manning fumbled near midfield after getting blindsided by defensive end Matt Roth. Defensive end Jason Taylor recovered the loose ball at the Miami 49-yard line, giving the Dolphins their best starting field position of the contest.

Jesse Chatman rumbled for a 22-yard run down to the Giants' 22, breaking several tackles along the way. Following a personal foul and a four-yard run by Chatman, the Dolphins advanced as far as the New York 2.

But the drive stalled courtesy of a botched play on second down and an incompletion on third down, resulting in Feely's 29-yard field goal with 1:04 left in the third quarter.

Neither team generated much offense until the Dolphins made things interesting late in the fourth quarter, reeling off a 12-play, 80-yard drive capped by Lemon's scoring strike to Ginn that made it 13-10 with 1:54 remaining.

"We thought we were in pretty good shape defensively for a long time," Coughlin said. "But nevertheless, the last drive - the ability to put the ball down there with a 3rd-and-long situation and score under those situations - that was a shocker to me."

But Feely's ensuing onside kick skipped out of bounds, resulting in yet another penalty and sealing the victory for the Giants.

Chatman had a decent outing making his first start in place of the injured Ronnie Brown, rushing for 79 yards on 16 carries and adding three receptions for 21 yards.

"There's all kinds of lesson to learn in the game," Chatman said. "You gotta overcome adversity. Even though we didn't pull out the win, the team as a whole kept fighting - we never gave up."

Tight end Justin Peelle had six catches for 42 yards for the Dolphins, who have not won since posting a 21-0 victory over the New England Patriots on December 10, 2006.

"We'll look at it as an eight-game season at this point," Taylor said. "I won't think about football until we come back and play whoever we play after the bye week."