It was a slopfest at the Meadowlands as the Giants defeated the bumbling 49ers, 29-17. There were a total of 24 penalties for 214 yards, fumbles, interceptions, a blocked field goal, a safety and even the refs were blowing calls. But the Giants won, recovering from last week’s disaster, upping their record to 5-1. It was their fourth home victory of the year, which already surpasses their total of three from last season.

The Good

It was a good day for the defense. They finally forced some turnovers, with Mathias Kiwanuka recovering a fumble and Justin Tuck knocking the ball out of J.T. O’Sullivan’s hands, which led to a safety. Michael Johnson picked off two passes for his first career interceptions. They only gave up one touchdown and a field goal, with SF’s other TD coming on a blocked field goal. The down-field coverage was good for most of the day, with the exception of a handful of receptions where the 49ers’ receivers seemed to be wide open. The good …

Should we start with the good news (the Rangers got a point out of the game)? The bad news (the Rangers lost)? The refs randomly deciding the Red Wings had to win the game (a bad too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty)? The Ted Lindsay statue? Ron Duguay still living in 1979 (did he try to go to Studio 54 last night?)?

In the first five minutes of the Rangers’ 5-4 loss to Detroit, the two teams looked like they weren’t even in the same league. The Red Wings came out on the ice like a killing machine. In those all-red uniforms they resembled the old Soviet Union/CCCP squads. “We are red machine. We will crush you.” They scored the first two goals before the Rangers even got out of the locker room. The Blueshirts just stood around watching Detroit before they realized that they were playing in the game, too. The Rangers gave Detroit too much respect.

But then Ryan Callahan scored, and for the next 35 minutes the teams went back and forth …