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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- With his team desperate to win, Tom Coughlin lightened the mood for the New York Giants during the week. There was music -- certainly not from the 68-year-old coachs era -- at practice. A punt catching competition was held and there were some laughs. It turned to smiles and a W on Sunday against the Houston Texans with some old-fashioned football. Rashad Jennings ran for a career-high 176 yards and a touchdown and Eli Manning threw two TD passes as the Giants overcame some early mistakes and beat the suddenly error-prone Texans 30-17. The victory not only put some life back into the Giants (1-2), it also ended any chance of a second straight 0-6 start for Coughlins team, which has missed the playoffs the past two seasons. "Its good to get that first win," said Manning, who was 21 of 28 for 234 yards and no interceptions. "We didnt want to go through (0-6) again. The coaches and everybody didnt get too uptight. With coach keeping his cool, bringing a little excitement to practice, it helped the players just relax. We said: Its Sunday. Just go play football. Dont worry about being perfect or doing everything exactly. Just play the game you love." Manning joked about the music played on Friday. "We just stole it off Coach Coughlins iPad," he said. "You know, early 90s rap." The Giants got a lot of contributions. Victor Cruz made a 26-yard touchdown catch, his first since Game 4 of last season, and danced the salsa. The defence intercepted three of Ryan Fitzpatricks passes, and the special teams unit blocked a punt, setting up Mannings second TD. "This was huge for us, knowing we had to get this game and get this one under our belts with a short week and not wanting to look ahead," said Cruz, who quipped that he had to remember how to salsa after his score. "We had to take care of this one and get ready for Washington (Thursday night)." Fitzpatrick, who had not thrown an interception this season, threw a 44-yard scoring pass to Damaris Johnson and ran for another score for the Texans (2-1), who played without halfback Arian Foster (hamstring). Houston came in tied for the league lead with a plus-5 turnover differential. The Giants were at the other end of the spectrum at minus-6 with no takeaways. "Were not going to win any games when I play like that, especially in the first half with the turnovers," said Fitzpatrick, who was 20 of 34 for 289 yards. "Sometimes interceptions happen, but it was just poor play by me." On Sunday, the Giants won the turnover battle, got pressure from their front four and dominated the Texans defensive front in rushing for 193 yards in a much-needed win. New York outgained Houston 262-83 in the first half in taking a 14-0 lead on the touchdown pass to Cruz and a 1-yard run by Jennings, which was set up by Antrel Rolles 25-yard interception return to the Texans 2. The lead should have been a larger. Tight end Larry Donnell fumbled at the Texans 4 in the first quarter after a reception, and Pro Bowl long snapper Zak DeOssie rolled one past holder Steve Weatherford on a short field-goal attempt in the second. Houston added to its woes early in the third quarter, going for a first down on a fourth-and-1 from its own 46 and failing. Brown hit a 39-yard field goal to make it 17-0 before Houston rallied behind Fitzpatrick. Three passes to DeAndre Hopkins set up a field goal, and Johnsons TD closed the gap to 17-10 with 2:13 left in the quarter. Jennings, who carried 34 times, had three rushes for 28 yards as the Giants drove for a field goal to extend the lead to 20-10 early in the fourth. Damontre Moore blocked Shane Lechlers punt to give New York the ball at the Houston 29, and Manning and Fells hooked up for touchdown for the second straight week. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie intercepted Fitzpatrick on the next series, setting up Browns final field goal. NOTES: Jennings previous career high was 150 yards vs. Houston last season while playing for Oakland. ... The Texans had not allowed a sack in their first two games. The Giants got two and had five quarterback hurries. ... Jameel McClain, who replaced Jon Beason at middle linebacker had a team-high 11 tackles and half a sack. ... New Jersey native Brian Cushing had a game-high 17 tackles. ... J.J. Watt had a sack and two tackles for losses. ... Alfred Blue had 78 yards on 13 carries, starting for Foster. ... Prince Amukamara also had an interception for New York. ... Johnathan Joseph had a fumble recovery for the Texans. Cheap NHL Jerseys China .Y. -- That hangover from the Big East tournament is gone for Villanova. Discount Hockey Jerseys .Y. - Urijah Faber walked out on a Madison Square Garden stage in a Wes Welker jersey, the UFCs fun nod to that other "super" show this weekend. http://www.cheapnhljerseysusa.com/. The Swiss won on the fastest run-time tiebreaker after the four-racer teams tied 2-2. Wendy Holdener and Reto Schmidiger won their final heats against Julia Mancuso and Tim Jitloff, respectively. Wholesale Adidas Hockey Jerseys . For the Blue Jays the time was Wednesday and the ace was R.A. Dickey. He stepped up. "I feel some responsibility as a stopper from time to time," said Dickey. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys .J. Ellis hit an RBI single in the ninth inning, Hanley Ramirez hit a tape-measure, three-run homer in the first against Cliff Lee and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 on Saturday night.DENVER -- Jamie McGinn turned in the biggest play before the game even began, preparing a pregame meal for the cooking-challenged Nathan MacKinnon. That pasta and chicken feast fueled the rookie MacKinnon to his first two-goal game and the Colorado Avalanche held off the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Saturday for their third straight win. "I think Ive got to take a little bit of credit for that," McGinn joked. McGinn chipped in with more than a meal, though, scoring a goal as well. The Avalanche jumped out to a 4-0 lead -- and would need every one to dodge a comeback from San Jose. Semyon Varlamov was at his best late in the game, making several big stops in the waning moments. He finished with 30 saves. "Varly really bailed us out at the end there," MacKinnon said. "We knew theyre a resilient team. Next time we play them, if we get up, weve got to step on the pedal a little bit more." With his two-goal burst, MacKinnon moved past San Joses Tomas Hertl for most points (26) among rookies. Hertl is sidelined after undergoing surgery earlier this week to repair damaged ligaments in his right knee. Think about that rookie scoring race? "A little bit, when it gets announced on the Jumbotron," MacKinnon said. "But thats not my focus." These days, about the only thing MacKinnon cant do is cook. Thats why McGinn stepped in. MacKinnon usually lives in backup goalie Jean-Sebastien Gigueres basement. But Giguere had family in and MacKinnon stayed with McGinn. "So I was cooking this morning," McGinn said. "He said he doesnt know how to cook. Well let that slide." The Avalanche have 56 points at the halfway point of the season, second-most in team history behind the 2000-01 Stanley Cup team. Still, theres plenty of season left as they try to return to the post-season after a three-year drought. "Everybody is pushing hard," first-year coach Patrick Roy said. "Everybody wants to give ourselves a chance to make the playoffs." Erik Johnson scored a fluke goal at 5:45 of the second when the puck bounced past Antti Niemi. That gaffe ended the goaltenders day and frustrated his coach Todd McLellan so much that he inserted backup Alex Stalock, who promptly allowed MacKinnons second goal 14 seconds later to make it a 4-0 game.dddddddddddd That didnt make McLellan any happier. "Ive gone after our team in the new year, try to hold them very accountable," McLellan said. "The goaltenders are part of that. Cant keep going toward the forwards or the D men." Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture had goals for the Sharks. Couture made it a one-goal game at 5:44 of the third when he knocked in a loose puck over a sprawled out Varlamov. The Sharks pulled Stalock with just over a minute left for an extra skater, only to struggle to get the puck into Colorados zone. And when they did, Varlamov turned it aside. Jan Hejda was whistled for interference with 4:02 remaining and Pavelski had a chance to tie it, getting open in the slot, but Varlamov stopped it with his chest, along with a rebound. It was quite an entertaining second period for the fans who braved the chill and the snow to show up at the Pepsi Center. The opening part of the period was all Avalanche as McGinn scored off a Sharks turnover, Johnson added another on a knuckleball of a shot that skipped past Niemi and MacKinnon knocked in a wrist shot to stake Colorado to a four-goal lead. On the ensuing faceoff, Andrew Desjardins struck John Mitchell in the groin with his stick, setting off a scuffle at centre ice. That seemed to fire up the listless Sharks, who quickly scored two goals to make it a 4-2 game at the end of the second period. Desjardins said after the game he didnt hit Mitchell on purpose. "Its more like when the guys come together and you try to push the guys hands away and my stick I guess caught him in an unfortunate spot," Desjardins said. Take anything away from the rally that fell short? "We expended or used up a lot of energy to come within one," said McLellan, whose team plays in Chicago on Sunday. "Were in the midst of a tough schedule, played guys down the stretch an awful lot and still (came up) short. We play tomorrow and we used up a lot of gas today." NOTES: Marleau also had two assists. ... Colorado F Paul Stastny contributed two assists as nine different Avs players had at least a point. ... At 18 years, 125 days, MacKinnon is the youngest player in franchise history to score two goals in a game. ' ' '