Notes, anecdotes and milestones from the Giants' 52-27 victory over the New Orleans Saints:
*The Giants improved to 8-5 and stay one game ahead of Dallas and Washington in the NFC East race. The Cowboys and Redskins each won their games on last-play field goals (Washington in overtime). The Giants visit 11-2 Atlanta next week.
*With the victory, the Giants are assured of their eighth consecutive non-losing season, the team's longest streak since finishing .500 or better in 10 straight years from 1954-63.
*The Giants' 52 points was their highest total since a 55-24 victory over Green Bay on Dec. 20, 1986. It was the most points ever scored by a Tom Coughlin-coached team in the regular season. The previous best was achieved on Dec. 3, 2000, when his Jacksonville Jaguars defeated Cleveland, 48-0. The Jaguars defeated Miami, 62-7, in a 1999 AFC Divisional Playoff Game.
*The Giants are 27-29 in games following a Monday night game, including 9-8 since 2000.
*The Giants broke a three-game losing streak to New Orleans. They beat a Drew Brees-quarterbacked team for the first time in five tries.
*New Orleans' 27 points were the most allowed by the Giants in a victory since a 34-31 triumph in Dallas on Dec. 11, 2011.
*The Saints gained 487 yards, the highest total allowed by the Giants since Nov. 28, 2011, when they gave up 577 to … the Saints (in New Orleans). The Saints' 345 passing yards was the second-highest total allowed by the Giants this season; Dallas threw for 415 yards in a 29-24 Giants victory on October 28.
*The game's first two touchdowns were a 73-yard interception return by New Orleans' Elbert Mack and David Wilson's 97-yard kickoff return. It was the first time the first two touchdowns in a Giants game were scored on returns since Nov. 13, 2005, when Minnesota's Darren Sharper scored on a 92-yard interception return and Koren Robinson returned a kickoff 86 yards. That was also the last time each of the first two touchdowns in a Giants game was at least 73 yards long.
*Coughlin earned his 150th regular season victory as a head coach. He is the 17th coach in NFL history to win at least 150 regular-season games. Coughlin broke a tie with Bill Cowher and is alone in 17th place, one victory behind former Giants coach and Hall of Famer Steve Owen.
*Including his 12 postseason wins, Coughlin has 162 total victories. That broke a tie with Cowher and moved Coughlin into sole possession of 16th place on the all-time list, six behind former Minnesota coach Bud Grant.
*The Giants set a team record with 287 kickoff return yards in the game (227 by Wilson and 60 by Jerrel Jernigan). The former record of 274 yards was set at Washington on Nov. 27, 1966.
*Wilson had a breakout game. He scored on a 97-yard kickoff return and had other returns of 58 and 52 yards. He also rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns. His 327 all-purpose yards established a team record. The former mark of 303 was set by Domenik Hixon at New Orleans on Oct. 18, 2009. Hixon's breakdown was 230 yards on kickoff returns, 51 on punt returns and 22 on receptions.
*Wilson is the first player in NFL history with at least 200 kickoff return yards and 100 rushing yards in the same game.
*Wilson's 227 kickoff return yards (on four runbacks) was the third-highest single-game total in Giants history, surpassed only by Willie Ponder's 259 yards vs. Pittsburgh on Dec. 18, 2004 and Hixon's 230 yards at New Orleans in 2009.
*Wilson averaged 56.8 yards per return, the highest total ever by a Giant with at least three returns in a game. The previous record of 51.8 yards was set by Joe Scott on four returns vs. the Rams on Nov. 14, 1948.
*Wilson, the Giants' first-round draft choice this year, has returned 48 kickoffs for 1,321 yards, a 27.5-yard average, this season. The yardage total is a team record, topping Hixon's 1,291 yards in 2009.
*Wilson's 27.5-yard average currently makes him the Giants' career leader (minimum 40 returns). Rocky Thompson had held the record with a 27.2-yard average on 65 returns from 1971-73.
*Wilson scored the Giants' first touchdown on his 97-yard kickoff return in the first quarter. It was the Giants' first kickoff return touchdown since Hixon's 74-yard runback against New England on Dec. 29, 2007. The Giants had played 76 regular season and nine postseason games between kickoff return touchdowns.
*Wilson was the second Giants player to score three touchdowns in a game this season. Victor Cruz caught three touchdown passes vs. Cleveland on October 7.
*Cruz caught eight passes for 121 yards and a touchdown. It was the second game in a row the Giants had both a 100-yard rusher and a 100-yard receiver. Last Monday in Washington, Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 103 yards and Cruz gained 104 yards on five catches.
*Cruz increased his season totals to 76 receptions for 1,004 yards. He finished the 2011 season with 82 catches for a team-record 1,536 yards.
*Eli Manning completed 22 of 35 passes for 259 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions for a passer rating of 99.6.
*This was Manning's seventh career four-touchdown game, tying Hall of Famer Y.A. Tittle for the franchise record. The Giants are 4-3 in those games.
*Manning increased his career yardage total to 31,008 and moved past former Giant Norm Snead (30,797) into 33rd place on the NFL's career list.
*Manning's four touchdown passes increased his career total to 205. That moved him past Matt Hasselbeck (201), Roman Gabriel (201) and Jim Everett (203) and into 30th place on the NFL's all-time list.
*Manning has 2,572 completions, four behind franchise-record holder Phil Simms (2,576).
*Stevie Brown intercepted two passes, which he returned for 91 yards. That increased his season totals to seven picks and 259 return yards. The seven interceptions are the most by a Giant since 1984, when Mark Haynes had seven. Brown's 259 yards are a single-season franchise record. The former mark of 251 was set by Hall of Famer Emlen Tunnell in 1949 and matched by Dick Lynch in 1963.
*Brown's 70-yard interception return was the longest by a Giant since Kevin Dockery's 96-yarder at Dallas on Oct. 23. 2006.
*Hixon, who had missed the previous two games with an ankle injury, returned punts for the first time since the season opener vs. Dallas. He had two runbacks for 19 yards. He also had three receptions for 30 yards, including a five-yard touchdown.
*Martellus Bennett caught five passes, including his fifth touchdown of the season on a six-yarder. Bennett scored four touchdowns in his first four NFL seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.
*Linval Joseph recovered his second fumble of the season, which he returned 16 yards.
*Osi Umenyiora had the Giants' only sack of Drew Brees, a nine-yarder. Umenyiora has 6.0 sacks this season, a half-sack behind team-leader Jason Pierre-Paul.
*Michael Boley led the Giants with 10 tackles (seven solo). Brown had eight tackles (seven solo).
*Reserve offensive lineman Selvish Capers, re-signed last week when Sean Locklear went on injured reserve, made his NFL debut.
*New Orleans scored the game's first touchdown on Mack's 73-yard interception return of a Manning pass. It was the second pick returned for a touchdown this season by a Giants opponent. On Sept. 16, Tampa Bay's Eric Wright intercepted a pass and brought it back 60 yards for a score.
*Mack's 73-yard interception return was the longest by a Giants opponent since Seattle's Brandon Browner ran one back 94 yards for a touchdown on Oct. 9, 2011.
*The turnover was the Giants' first in 22 offensive possessions. They had last had a giveaway in the fourth quarter at Cincinnati on November 11, when Manning lost a fourth-quarter fumble. Manning had thrown 88 consecutive passes without an interception before Mack picked off his pass for Jerrel Jernigan.
*Coughlin lost a replay challenge with 12:51 remaining in the fourth quarter. On a third down, Brees threw long down the middle of the field to Joseph Morgan for a 44-yard gain. Coughlin challenged the ruling, believing the ball hit the ground before Morgan secured it. After review, referee Jeff Triplette upheld the call on the field. It was Coughlin's second challenge of the season. He is 1-1, 34-40 with the Giants and 44-49 in his career on replay challenges.
*The Giants' inactive players were safeties Kenny Phillips (knee) and Tyler Sash (hamstring), tight end Travis Beckum (knee), defensive tackle Marvin Austin, running back Ryan Torain, tight end Adrien Robinson and defensive end Adewale Ojomo.
*The game captains were Antrel Rolle and Cruz.
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