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Manning throws three TDs as Giants rout Rams

Sep 14, 2008 - 10:38 PM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Eli Manning and the New York Giants continued their dominance on the road.

Manning threw three touchdown passes and the Giants' defense overpowered the hapless St. Louis Rams en route to a 41-13 rout Sunday.

It was the 12th consecutive victory away from Giants Stadium for New York (2-0), which won its last seven regular-season road games last season. The Giants also won three road games in the playoffs before their Super Bowl upset of the New England Patriots in Glendale, Arizona.

"It is a new year and this is our first road game," Giants head coach Tom Coughlin said. "We challenged our team this past week, we put the term 'Road Warriors' on the board and we talked about the values and virtues that we compiled and the success of last year."

A former No. 1 overall draft selection who was often criticized for his inconsistent play and poor body language, Manning came of age during New York's stunning postseason run.

Following a sub-par performance during last week's season-opening win against Washington, Manning was outstanding in this contest, completing 20-of-29 passes for 260 yards to pace a Giants offense that racked up 441 yards from scrimmage.

Manning gave the Giants the lead for good on their second possession when he found a wide-open Plaxico Burress for a 33-yard TD. The reigning Super Bowl MVP also orchestrated a pair of second-quarter drives capped by field goals from John Carney.

"We got off to a pretty good start getting a touchdown with a great route by Plaxico Burress on the post route," Manning said. "We had to settle for some field goals in the first half."

Manning also threw a 10-yard scoring strike to Amani Toomer in the third quarter and an 18-yard TD to Ahmad Bradshaw with 7:18 remaining.

The touchdown pass to Toomer gave New York a 20-6 lead and capped a 10-play, 97-yard drive that lasted less than five minutes. Manning completed 4-of-6 passes for 48 yards on the drive.

"In the second half, I thought we really responded," Manning said. "When we were in a little bind being on our 3-yard line, we got a 97-yard drive - which is a huge, huge drive right there in that situation."

While Manning and the offense clicked throughout the afternoon, the Giants' ferocious defense had its way with the Rams (0-2), who have been outscored, 79-16, over their first two games.

Defensive end Justin Tuck recorded two sacks and returned an interception 41 yards for a TD to lead New York, which sacked Marc Bulger six times and limited St. Louis to just 201 yards of total offense.

The Rams fought their way back into contention when Bulger found Torry Holt for a highlight-reel 45-yard TD pass early in the fourth quarter that cut the deficit to 20-13.

But the Giants responded on their following possession with a six-play drive capped by Manning's scoring pass to Bradshaw, who evaded a pair of defenders in the flat before racing up the right sideline.

"They scored a touchdown, and to go down there and get another touchdown in that situation was a huge drive," Manning said. "It put us up 14 and put some pressure on them."

With a 27-13 lead, New York's defense took over from there. Tuck sacked Bulger on the first play of the next series, but the Rams converted a 4th-and-6 to preserve their fading hopes.

However, Tuck sealed the victory two plays later when he made a juggling interception of a screen attempt and raced into the end zone to make it 34-13 with 5:30 remaining.

"I jumped up and it kind of caught me right here in my shoulder pads," Tuck said. "I was able to get control of it, and it was off to the races."

Burress had five catches for 81 yards, Toomer hauled in six receptions for 67 yards and Brandon Jacobs rushed for 93 yards on just 15 carries for the Giants, who have not lost on the road since their 2007 season opener at Dallas.

"I think our offense is tough to put a finger on," Toomer said. "We're a very diverse group in terms of distributing the ball. We can get you a lot of different angles, it's a tough group to try and press down."

It was the second embarrassing performance in as many weeks for the Rams, who suffered a 38-3 drubbing at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday.

"The bottom line is we can't expect to win games playing the way we are playing," Rams head coach Scott Linehan said. "I think (everyone) would agree that for three and a half quarters, we were right there. There is no question in my mind that we didn't finish and they did."

Bulger was constantly harassed behind St. Louis' shaky offensive line and finished 20-of-32 for 177 yards and one interception.

Rams star running back Steven Jackson rushed for 53 yards and also had seven receptions for 37 yards. Holt finished with 76 yards on six catches.