Andre Brown who replaced an injured Ahmad Bradshaw, rushed for 158 yards and three touchdowns, helping the New York Giants overcome the teams' second slow start in as many weeks to beat the Carolina Panthers 38-27 on Thursday night.
Brown took over the game in the second quarter with the Giants (2-1) trailing 17-3, Brown took a handoff, cut to left and ran up the sidelines for a 58-yard touchdown score.
The score began a shift in momentum and the Giants would go on to score the games' next two touchdowns and take a 24-17 lead into the halftime break. Eli Manning was amazing on those two scoring drives, completing 13 of 15 pass attempts for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Victor Cruz was the recipient of both scoring plays. Cruz ended the game with 13 receptions and 165 yards.
Panthers' quarterback Cam Newton passed the ball for a 192 yard, 1 touchdown and he rushed 12 times for 59 yards and a touchdown. He led Carolina to a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half. Hitting receiver Steven Smith on the drive for a 22-yards pass and a 27-yard touchdown bomb. Smith finished the game with 8 catches for 101 yards.
With the game tied at 24-24 and 7 minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Giants went down the field and scored a go-ahead touch down on a fourth-and-1 from the Panthers' 1-yardline, putting New York in the lead 31-24.
Cam Newton led the Panthers on a 13-play drive that went into the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. The drives stalled Jason Pierre-Paul was able to sack Newton for a lost of 5 yards on a third-down pass attempt, which forced the Panthers to settle for Justin Medlock 's field goal, cutting the Giants lead to 31-27 with 8:16 remaining.
Manning and the Giants didn't give Newton the ball back in till there was less than a minute remaining in the game. The Giants took the ball 83-yards down the field for a Brown touchdown run giving the Giants a 38-27 lead.
Newton tried to score a last-minute touchdown but the Giants defense held and New York got its second victory of the young NFL season. Do you think Madden NFL '13 got tonight's game right? Comment below.
Here is a list of Madden NFL 13's simulations for primetime games so far this season...
Week 1
Cowboys Vs. Giants
Week 2
Packers Vs. Bears
49ers Vs. Lions
Broncos Vs. Falcons
Week 3
Giants Vs. Panthers