Oct 28, 2007 4:39 pm US/Eastern
Different Soil, Same Result For Dolphins
Giants Beat Fins In Historic Game
The Dolphins traveled overseas in hopes of getting their first victory of 2007 but came away with the same result, a loss. Miami gave the London fans something to cheer about late as they scored with less than two minutes remaining, but came away with their 11th consecutive loss.
They mucked their way through a steady rain.
They played as if they were in a London fog.
The NFL's first regular-season trip overseas was every bit as sloppy as it was predictable Sunday. Eli Manning threw for only 59 yards but ran for New York's only touchdown to lift the Giants to a mud-caked 13-10 victory over the still-winless Miami Dolphins.
The Giants (6-2) had more riding on this game, coming in with a five-game winning streak and in no mood to take a 3,500-mile trip to London to make history on behalf of the NFL. But Brandon Jacobs helped make the journey a success, running for 131 yards; the second straight week he's hit a career high.
Helped in part by a steady rain that made for an "unfriendly pitch" at torn-up turf Wembley Stadium, the New York defense allowed only 254 yards and held the Dolphins out of the end zone for the first 58 minutes for a victory that only the winners could view as anything remotely beautiful.
Miami pulled within 13-10 when Cleo Lemon hit Ted Ginn Jr. for a 21-yard score with 1:54 left. But Jay Feely's onside kick went out of bounds and the Giants kneeled on it three times to seal the game, ignoring the loud boos from a crowd of 81,176 that wanted more.
Miami fell to 0-8 and kept 0-16 very much in play for the season on this, the 35th anniversary of their perfect, 17-0 season in 1972.
The idea behind this game was supposedly to offer Londoners a first-hand look at the real thing after they'd suffered through decades of exhibition games and NFL Europa. And while the mud made for good television and some fun slips and slides, this was hardly a clinic of American football at its best.
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