The Sports Xchange

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — In each of their first two games this season, the New York Giants found ways to lose in the final minutes.

On Sunday night, they flipped the script to move above .500.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning engineered his 27th career game-winning, fourth-quarter drive, connecting with tight end Larry Donnell on a 12-yard touchdown pass with 21 seconds left, giving New York a 30-27 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

“That was some football game tonight,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said.

“Hats off to Eli Manning and the New York Giants,” 49ers coach Jim Tomsula said. “We didn’t make enough plays.”

The 49ers, who trailed 13-6 at the half, scored 21 points on touchdown passes by quarterback Colin Kaepernick to wide receiver Anquan Boldin and tight end Garrett Celek, plus a 2-yard carry by running back Carlos Hyde, each of those scores capping drives that spanned at least 80 yards.

Hyde’s touchdown with 1:45 to play put San Francisco on top 27-23.

“It’s good offensively to get in a rhythm like that, but we have to win games,” Kaepernick said. “That’s why we play.”

The Giants, even with top receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Rueben Randle missing chunks of the second half due to hamstring strains, found a way to get it done.

Manning, who finished 41 of 54 for 441 yards and one interception, connected on two of his three touchdown passes in the second half. He threw a 17-yard scoring pass to Beckham late in the third quarter, prior to the receiver exiting the game with a hamstring injury, and the game-winner to Donnell, the tight end’s second touchdown catch of the year.

Donnell’s game-winning catch was extra special for the Giants, who dedicated the win to tight end Daniel Fells, who is currently hospitalized due to a MRSA infection after being placed on season-ending injured reserve last week.

What we learned about the 49ers:

1. Despite losing four in a row, including their last two in which they were still in the game, the 49ers (1-4) are not about to throw in the towel.

“We will move forward together,” coach Jim Tomsula said. “There’s a good resolve in that locker room.”

Added linebacker NaVorro Bowman, “We’re 0-1 in the division, and we all know if we handle that, we have a shot. It’s about building off this.”

2. The 49ers’ red-zone defense was better this week. Coming into Sunday’s game, the defense allowed opponents to score touchdowns on 11 of 15 trips to the red zone. This week, however, San Francisco did a much better job inside of the 20-yard line, allowing the Giants to convert only three of six red-zone trips into touchdowns.

3. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick can function under center. According to the 49ers, Kaepernick completed just four out of 10 pass attempts under center this season before Sunday, with most of his snaps coming in the shotgun formation. Against the Giants, Kaepernick was under center a bit more than usual and had some decent results, completing nine of 18 attempts for 62 yards and both of his touchdowns.

“Obviously that was much better,” Tomsula said of Kaepernick’s performance this week.

Kaepernick said, “To me, I have to go back out and play football. It’s a game at the end of the day. It’s not life or death. I go out and I go to play. I play to win, and I do everything I can to try and help this team win.”

Etc.

–RB Reggie Bush experienced tightness in his calf that necessitated him coming out of the game toward the end. Bush’s injury was the only one of note, according to coach Jim Tomsula.

–RB Carlos Hyde, who is still looking to recapture his Week 1 form when he ran for 168 yards on 26 carries, recorded his second-best rushing performance of the season with a team-leading 21 carries for 93 yards and one touchdown. Hyde also topped his longest run from scrimmage this year, an 18-yard scamper against the Vikings, with a 22-yard run this week.

–WR Anquan Boldin caught eight passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. He nearly equaled his yardage production from the first four weeks of the season combined, when he had 15 catches for 124 yards and one touchdown.