Giants keep winning at home

New York topped San Francisco, 29-17, for its fourth straight win at home.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Who cares that the New York Giants’ run on the road is over? The Super Bowl champions are winning at home this season.

Brandon Jacobs ran for two touchdowns, Eli Manning threw for one, Michael Johnson had two interceptions and the Giants managed to make fewer mistakes than the woeful San Francisco 49ers in a 29-17 victory Sunday in a sloppily played game.

The victory was the fourth straight at home for the Giants (5-1) — one more than they had last season — and it sent the 49ers (2-5) to their fourth straight loss.

“Last year I don’t want to say we didn’t want to come home and play,” said defensive end Justin Tuck, who had two sacks. “But we felt more comfortable on the road.”

Not this year.

“It’s fun to win here when you get fans like this behind you,” added defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, who had a key fumble recovery. “They really understand the game and they love it. It gives you an added incentive that makes it important to us.”

While the fans had a lot to cheer about, this game wasn’t pretty for either team, especially San Francisco, which turned over the ball three times, allowed six sacks, a safety and had 13 penalties for 134 yards.

Combined it handed New York 19 points.

The problem for San Francisco is that the season is slipping away quickly.

“We’ve got to turn this thing around,” center Eric Heitmann said. “I think everyone on the team feels this isn’t the same team [5-11] we had last year. This is a different team, a much better team. This is a team that should not be 2-5. The character on this team will do everything to turn this around, and it starts right now with Seattle coming up.”

The Giants had their ugly moments, too. On the verge of building a 17-point lead late in the third quarter, Manny Lawson blocked John Carney’s field-goal attempt and Nate Clements returned it 74 yards for a touchdown, cutting the lead to 24-17.

Carney atoned moments later with a 48-yard field goal, and the defense iced the game with a sack that led to a safety when receiver Josh Morgan kicked the ball out of his end zone.

“We’re happy to be at 5-and-1,” said Manning, who was 16-of-31 for 161 yards. “We’ve played some outstanding games, offensively and defensively.”