EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Giants safety and human fire emoji Landon Collins has dyed his hair blue. He wears it in neat braids atop his head, with the sides cut short, in sharp contrast to his unruly black beard. But the biggest differences between Collins 2015 rookie season and this one are the look in his eye and the number (four) in the interception column. All four of those interceptions have come in the past three games, all of which the Giants have won.Im being very accountable, Collins said after helping lead the Giants to a 21-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football. Last year, I had a bad season, and Im making up for it.He could be speaking for the entire Giants defense, which is the biggest reason the team has already won as many games (six) as it did in each of the previous two seasons. So much of the early-season focus was on Odell Beckham Jr. and Ben McAdoo, the new head coach, who was the young, hotshot offensive coordinator. But while the Giants offense has struggled to find its footing so far, the defense has been making sure they turn fourth-quarter leads into wins instead of heartbreaking 2015-style losses.Were 6-3. I havent been 6-3 since Ive been here, Beckham, the third-year superstar, said after the game. Its a good feeling.Last season?was a parade of bad feelings for the Giants, who blew five fourth-quarter leads in Tom Coughlins forgettable final season as coach. This season, the close games are breaking their way. They have won four games in a row with an average margin of victory of 4.3 points. They have the third-best record in the NFC even though theyve allowed more points than theyve scored.Why? Because theyre not giving up points when points would hurt the most. Only eight defenses in the league are allowing fewer points, on average, in the fourth quarter than the Giants 5.33. Last year, they averaged 8.75 points allowed in the fourth quarter -- tied for worst in the league with the Saints.Now, you know the Giants spent big to improve that defense, signing top-of-the-market free agents Olivier Vernon, Damon Harrison and Janoris Jenkins and bringing back Jason Pierre-Paul. Watching Monday night, you could see the payoff: Jenkins holding Bengals star A.J. Green to a pedestrian 68 yards on seven catches; Harrison anchoring a run defense that allowed only 78 yards; Vernon muscling his way past the Bengals line and meeting Pierre-Paul and Friends at the quarterback. The Giants have just 14 sacks this season -- more than only two other NFL teams. But two of them came on the final two offensive possessions the Bengals had on Monday, and they basically sealed a one-point win.Our job as a defensive line is to stop the run and get to the quarterback, Vernon said. I think we did a pretty good job of that tonight.The broader effect of the defensive infusion, though, is that it allows coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to maximize the players he has and put the combinations on the field that he prefers. Rookie Eli Apple has clearly usurped former starting cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who frustrated the Giants coaching staff the past two years with inconsistency and by asking in and out of games. Vernon is a versatile enough player that Spagnuolo can run sub packages where his pass-rushers move inside, the way he used to do it with Michael Strahan and Justin Tuck in his 2007 glory year.But theres no greater difference than whats showing up in the play of Collins, who was NFC Defensive Player of the Week each of the past two weeks and kept the train rolling with a fourth-quarter interception of Andy Dalton on Monday. Cincinnati was driving inside Giants territory with a one-point lead and 11 minutes, 35 seconds left in the game when Collins made his weekly huge play. And if his teammates were surprised it was only because it had taken that long.Hes amazing right now, Pierre-Paul said. Not a different guy, but a better player. Smart.Collins agrees that hes a better player than he was a year ago. The Giants moved up to draft him at the top of the second round in 2015, and coming out of Alabama he was used to success. But his rookie year was a rough one. Without a true free safety on the roster, the Giants too often forced Collins out of his comfort zone and into coverage, which is not a strength of his game. The improved depth of talent on the defensive side of the ball this season?allows Collins to do more of what hes good at -- play closer to the line, deliver big hits and take advantage of his playmaking ability -- while the overall coverage forces a quarterback into mistakes.Monday night, Collins said, Dalton was staring down his tight end and Collins didnt have coverage responsibility on the play. He recognized the routes the receivers were running, saw that everyone was covered and moved the ball where Dalton was telegraphing it. Interception No. 4.No big deal, really, because Collins believes he owes all of this. Last year sticks with him. It haunts him and drives him.Just not being accountable, he said of what went wrong in his rookie year. Not making the right calls, not being in the right position, being out-leveraged. I knew the defense by the end of the year, but its night and day now as far as knowing the defense, being sound, being in the right position. Its so much better now.The Giants defense this year is allowing 359.3 yards per game, good for just 16th-best in the league. But those figures last year were 420.3 and 32nd-best. The stats put them in the middle of the road, but its possible no single unit in the NFL is more improved over last season than the Giants defense. Personified by its red-hot, blue-haired second-year star safety, it is -- as he described it -- so much better now. And the difference is right there in the standings. Cheap Miami Dolphins Jerseys . -- Nathan Pancel scored twice as the Sudbury Wolves defeated the North Bay Battalion 4-2 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Cheap Dallas Cowboys Jerseys . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. http://www.cheapoutletnfljerseys.com/ . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. Cheap Chicago Bears Jerseys . Giroud, who wasnt in the starting lineup for two matches after allegations about his private life and a decline in form, scored twice in the first half. Tomas Rosickys chip made it 3-0 before half time at Emirates Stadium, while defender Laurent Koscielny scored an unmarked header in the second half. Cheap Baltimore Ravens Jerseys . Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime, and the Cardinals edged the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime after blowing a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter. England agree to play after 26/11, and the big fourth-innings chaseIndia v England, Chennai, 2008It isnt often that cricket becomes a distraction in India. Kids watch it with hours to go for exams. Adults peek at the score in spite of deadlines at work. But after the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, the nation was in mourning. A bombing took place at the hotel the England team was supposed to stay at for the first Test.Kevin Pietersen and his men left for home to be with their families. Backroom talks began. Assurances were given. The BCCI shifted the match to Chennai, with 5,000 policemen for protection. England came back. That mere fact made this series noteworthy. The five days of play at the MA Chidambaram stadium were the encore. India chased down 387, then the fourth-highest chase in Test history. Yuvraj Singh produced his best innings in a year, and Mumbais own Sachin Tendulkar hit the winning runs, securing a 41st Test hundred in the process.It was the fourth hundred of the match. Andrew Strauss had two against his name. There was an important one for Paul Collingwood in the second innings. England gained the advantage of scoreboard pressure and a pitch with footmarks the size of large pizzas. That was fine for Virender Sehwag. He came in and dined out. Without his 83 off 68 balls, India may never have believed they could win. When the chase began, I didnt give Dhoni and Co. more than a 10% chance. Sehwag, however, changed everything, Kapil Dev said.Before the series Tendulkar had appeared in an advertisement. I play for India, now more than ever, he said. He wore blue. He was solemn. But he was also reading from a script. It was make-believe. What he did in Chennai though was very real and the pain of Mumbai eased, if only a little.By Alagappan MuthuVVS overcomes back pain and the LankansSri Lanka v India, Colombo, 2010In the previous match between India and Sri Lanka, a run-fest on a featherbed at the Sinhalese Sports Club, there were five centuries, including two double-centuries. VVS Laxman made 29. But at the P Sara Oval, with India 62 for 4 chasing 257 to draw the series, Laxman showed yet again why he was such a highly valued member of Indias middle order.On a tricky fifth-day pitch, against the biting offspin of Suraj Randiv, and battling back spasms to boot, Laxman made a treacherous run chase look routine. He stroked 12 fours in his unbeaten 103 to steer India past the target with five wickets in hand.With him, at the moment of victory, was Virender Sehwag -- not as a batting partner, but as a runner. That, too, was fitting given Sehwags contribution to the victory in the form of a hard-hitting century in Indias first innings and three wickets in Sri LLankas second.ddddddddddddBut the moment belonged to Indias long-time middle-order saviour. The match situation, Laxman explained later, had superseded his back pain. And he, in turn, had superseded the match situation to come up trumps once again.By Sirish RaghavanNear-perfect Test in Mohali -- and in October, tooIndia v Australia, Mohali, 2010Octobers in north India used to be a great place to be once upon a time, with festivities and a slight chill in the air. Now they are just part of an extended seemingly never-ending summer. In 2010 though, over in Mohali we had a Test so perfect it belonged to the perfect Octobers of old. Australia won the toss, had to be watchful against the new ball, and Shane Watson played an innings close to perfection. India replied to Australias 428 with 405, leaving the Test ripe for explosion once the pitch started to break up.When the pitch obliged, Ishant Sharma fashioned a top-order collapse, the spinners chipped away at the middle and Zaheer Khan ran through the lower order, giving India 216 to win. At 76 for 5 an injured VVS Laxman walked out, played some of the most beautiful shots that can be imagined under duress, drew every ounce of support from the lower order and his runner, and on his injured back carried India to a one-wicket win. In the process he shielded Ishant Sharma once Mitchell Johnsons bouncers got too much, and even swore at Pragyan Ojha for not being alert to a run.By Sidharth MongaA slice of Laxman magic -- in Durban this timeSouth Africa v India, Durban, 2010Having suffered an innings defeat in the first Test, India did not begin the second encouragingly, as a Dale Steyn six-for rolled them over for 205 on a green Kingsmead pitch. But their bowling attack, so lacklustre in Centurion, had teeth and direction with its leader Zaheer Khan back after recovering from a hamstring strain. Zaheer took three wickets, including those of both openers, and Harbhajan Singh ran through the lower order, as South Africa folded for 131.A lead of 74 was crucial but not quite match-winning, and South Africa had India on the mat again when Steyn, Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe reduced them to 56 for 4 in their second innings. It was a situation made for VVS Laxman, and his 96 was the decisive innings of a match in which no other batsman made more than 39. Set 303 to win, South Africa only managed 215, with Zaheer and Sreesanth picking up three wickets each. 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