visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the fin

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Its not supposed to work. Every bit of NFL front-office history has taught us that you cant go out and fix your problems with one big free-agent offseason. Build through the draft, thats the way to go. Free agency is for augmentation, not foundation building.So no, the New York Giants couldnt have seen this coming. Even after doling out top-dollar deals for three defensive free agents and a generous one-year deal for one of their own, veteran defensive end?Jason Pierre-Paul, the Giants themselves couldnt have known it would turn out like this.You hope so, linebacker Jonathan Casillas said Sunday afternoon, after he and the Giants defense had delivered a second straight stifling victory over an NFC division leader, this time a 17-6 win over the Detroit Lions. You always hope its going to work, when you bring in new guys, but you never know for sure.The Giants didnt know for sure in March, or even in September. But they know now. They know they can win games with defense -- even in a down year for QB?Eli Manning, one in which the offensive game plan increasingly seems to be, Just protect the ball as best you can until Odell Beckham Jr. makes a play.You can spend a good chunk of the NFL season trying to figure out who you are. But by this point, if you want to do big things, you have to know who you are. The Giants know.Our mindset is to stop the opponent, to not let them score, said Landon Collins, the second-year safety whos emerged as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate after a rough rookie season. You obviously want to be one of the top defenses in the league, but our mindset is, Get a stop on third down. Get a stop. Get our offense back on the field in good field position.You can point to the performances of free-agent signings Olivier Vernon, Damon Harrison and Janoris Jenkins?as the reason this defense has jumped from league-worst to good-enough-to-beat-anybody in just one year. And theres some validity there. All three of those guys have played brilliantly, so far justifying the Giants decisions to spend whatever it took to get them.But its more than that, as it must be. The Giants defensive turnaround has to do with Collins being in the right position, and having a season under his belt so his heads not swimming the way it was last season. It has to do with the mindset of someone like Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, the veteran cornerback who lost his job to rookie Eli Apple but stepped in when Jenkins left Sundays game due to injury. It has to do with young, untested defensive linemen like Romeo Okwara and Owa Odighizuwa playing better since Pierre-Paul got hurt.When your number is called, you can either go down or go up, Collins said. And a lot of us have been moving up.This kind of thing feeds on itself, and you can see it in a Giants defense that held Dallas to seven points a week ago and Detroit to six Sunday. Manning entered Week 15 ranked 26th in Total QBR and 23rd in yards per attempt, and the Giants still sit at 10-4, one victory away from qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2011. They left MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon with the knowledge that, if Dallas slips up Sunday night against the Buccaneers, they could still win the NFC East.But the reason for the Giants success is that they havent been distracted by big-picture stuff. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, himself a coaching reclamation project after presiding over defenses that set records for futility in New Orleans and previously with the Giants, has found a way to keep his charges focused on and dedicated to their individual jobs from play to play and week to week.Weve got a lot of guys at their positions being asked to win one-on-one battles, and were winning them, Casillas said. [WR]?Golden Tate had a day today, and that happens sometimes, but the good thing was it was only him. We basically bottled up everybody else.Tate had 122 yards from scrimmage. No other Lion had more than 52. QB?Matthew Stafford, the king of the fourth-quarter comeback this season, threw for a pedestrian 273 yards on 24-for-39 passing?with an interception. The run-challenged Lions managed 56 rushing yards on 19 carries. Down four points in the fourth quarter, a team that has come back to win in eight of its nine victories this season instead saw its deficit grow thanks to big-play Beckham, who one-handed the game-sealing touchdown.We just have a relentless mentality, Rodgers-Cromartie said. Nobody wants to be the guy who goes out and lets down the team. Thats the way were going right now, and thats special.The Giants defense, long an Achilles heel, has a special feel to it. Playing without Pierre-Paul the past two weeks and now facing the possibility of playing without Jenkins, who injured his back and has only?three days to recover before the Thursday night game in Philadelphia, they seem convinced they can deliver.It wasnt supposed to be like this. The Giants were supposed to have an explosive offense and hope the defense could just rise from the back of the pack to the middle. Instead, theyre in December and the defense is carrying the offense. Theyll take it. Its an NFL era in which championships can once again be won with defense, as the 2015 Broncos proved. And while this years Giants have a long way to go before they can compare themselves to that group, theyre in a position now where they dont wonder whether they can stop anybody when it matters. They know they can. Discount Custom NFL Shirts Online . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. Custom Football Jerseys Wholesale . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. http://www.customcheapfootballjerseys.com/ . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. Clearance Custom NFL Shirts . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Cheap Custom Football Shirts . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Louisville coach Rick Pitinos concerns about the early season schedule causing his 12th-ranked Cardinals problems might be merited at some point.Right now, the Cardinals are handling non-conference opponents with surprising ease.Jaylen Johnson had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Deng Adel added 11 points and Louisville jumped on Long Beach State quickly for an 88-56 blowout Thursday.The Cardinals (3-0) outscored the 49ers 23-2 over a 5:28 span in the first half for a 30-8 lead en route to their third straight 30-point win to open the season. Louisvilles height advantage made the difference on both ends as it controlled scoring in the paint 42-20 and rebounding 51-37.Louisvilles fast, effective start toward that end impressed Pitino enough to compare his teams effort to the 2013 NCAA championship squad, which is saying something this early in the season.That was really, really special to see, said Pitino, whose team made 11 of their first 14 shots before finishing at 45 percent (34 of 76) from the field. That was a clinic at the offensive end and a clinic at the defensive end.Johnson helped get the Cardinals going with 10 points and seven rebounds in the first half en route to his second double-double in three games.I just make sure Im more efficient, said Johnson, who made 7 of 11 from the field in 18 minutes.The 49ers (1-3) made just 18 of 61 from the field (30 percent) and couldnt slow the Cardinals in any phase while losing to their second ranked Atlantic Coast Conference foe in three days. Fifth-ranked North Carolina used a quick start to beat Long Beach State 93-67 on Tuesday night.It was similar because we just werent able to withstand that first blow to stay in the game, 49ers coach Dan Monson said. Once we got comfortable, its too late. Games over. You come on these road trips to try to put your kids in adversity to get them better and I dont feel like we handled it any better than we did Tuesday.Mangok Mathiang added 11 points and Ray Spalding had 10 for Louisville. The Cardinals blocked nine shots in winning the first of four games in the Battle 4 Atlantis that continues next week in the Bahamas.ddddddddddddEvan Payne had 15 points and Gabe Levin added 12 for Long Beach State, which fell to 0-3 against the Cardinals.THE BIG PICTURELong Beach State: Just when the 49ers seemed capable of playing Louisville close at 7-6, they missed their next 10 shots and 14 of 16 overall in a drought that dug an insurmountable hole. That comes two nights after they trailed North Carolina 14-0. ... Long Beach State committed 19 turnovers leading to 25 Louisville points.Louisville: Good thing the Cardinals dominated the paint, because their perimeter shooting is still a work in progress. Adel and Donovan Mitchell (eight points) combined to make their first three attempts from behind the arc, but the team didnt make another until David Levitch and Ryan McMahon made both their attempts in the second half. Louisville still finished 7 of 20 from long range after entering the game 13 of 43 through two games. ... McMahon and Quentin Snider each had five assists for the Cardinals, who finished with at least 20 in consecutive games for the first time since 2010-11.POLL IMPLICATIONSBarring any movement by teams ahead of Louisville before Monday, next weeks Battle 4 Atlantis matchups could determine the Cardinals ranking for the following week.TIME MANAGEMENTTipoff was 4 p.m. to allow Louisville fans time to watch this game and the third-ranked football teams nationally televised contest at Houston with an 8 p.m. kickoff. Attendance was 14,337, down from the usual sellouts at the KFC Yum! Center.UP NEXTLong Beach State: The 49ers tough early season schedule continues with a visit to No. 16 UCLA on Sunday.Louisville: Continues play in the Battle 4 Atlantis against Old Dominion on Wednesday in the Bahamas.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '