Giants Move to 4-0

NFL News - October 4th, 2009 - Written by John

Hakeem Nicks' return to action was a good one, albeit brief. The rookie, who was tabbed to fill the void left by Plaxico Burress, caught only one ball but, oh, was it a good one. At the start of the fourth quarter, Eli Manning connected on a 54-yard bomb to send Nicks into the end zone for the first time since injuring his ankle in Week One. By then, the game was long decided, but it was still a soothing sign for a receiving corps that has already proven powerful.

Steve Smith had 11 catches for 134 yards and scored twice and the Giants scored in every quarter. It was more than enough to send the Chiefs to a miserable start to their NFC East tour, 27-16, at Arrowhead.

Eli Manning aired it out for 292 yards over all and was only sacked two times. He got his team on the board quickly in the first quarter after Kansas City's Jamaal Charles fumbled the opening kickoff at the 16. Three runs by Brandon Jacobs brought the ball down to the 3 and Manning hit Smith with his first touchdown of the day.

The Chiefs shot themselves in the foot early in the second quarter when Manning tossed an incomplete pass on second down. what should've been a third-and-long situation turned into a first down when Kansas City was flagged for unnecessary roughness. On the next play, Manning again found Smith, who bursted up the seam and delivered a 25-yard touchdown.

The Chiefs had a lot of opportunities to get back in the game, but fumbled four times and were flagged seven times. Their 2.8 yards per pass was a good five yards under the Giants average and they were 2-for-15 on third down.

Kansas City was able to tack on 14 late points, much like they did last week against the Eagles. After barely gaining 100 total yards through the first three quarters, Matt Cassel finally found some rhythm against the Giants second team. With nine minutes to go he found Sean Ryan from a yard out to make it 27-9. On the next drive it was another red zone score for Cassel, this time connecting with Bobby Wade.

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