updated 10:13 p.m. ET Nov. 6, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO - Though Jeremy Shockey and Michael Strahan had miserable memories of Candlestick Park, Eli Manning was still in college when the New York Giants’ last trip to the playoffs ended here in a historic collapse.

The young quarterback thought the old building was an excellent place to get his first true road victory.

Manning passed for 251 yards and a touchdown, Brandon Jacobs rushed for two short fourth-quarter scores and the Giants’ defense yielded just 138 total yards in a 24-6 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Plaxico Burress had five catches for 79 yards in the third straight victory for the Giants (6-2), who maintained their lead in the NFC East by suffocating the 49ers’ offense, which hasn’t scored a touchdown in its last 13 quarters at home.

The Giants’ offense also floundered for long stretches against San Francisco’s solid defense, but a handful of big throws by Manning led to scores.

“We just had to get the ball in our receivers’ hands and let them be the athletes,” said Manning, who had been 0-5 in games outside Giants Stadium; New York beat New Orleans at the Meadowlands in Week 2, technically a Saints home game after Hurricane Katrina damaged the Superdome. “We had to figure out a way not to hurt ourselves, and mostly we avoided that. We had too many mistakes, but they didn’t end up hurting us.”

That wasn’t always the case in San Francisco. Just 11 Giants are left from one of the club’s most infamous postseason defeats: On Jan. 5, 2003, New York allowed San Francisco to rally from a 24-point deficit in the second half of a 39-38 wild-card victory.

It was the second-biggest collapse in NFL playoff history, and New York hasn’t been back to the postseason or Candlestick since. But while the 49ers are 10-31 since that win, the Giants have rebuilt themselves into a postseason contender behind Manning, who was 18-of-33 and threw a TD pass in his ninth straight game.

Shockey, who dropped a pass in the end zone during the second half of that playoff loss in San Francisco, stretched full-length to catch a 32-yard scoring pass 13 seconds before halftime.

Slide show   NFL week 9's best Top images from Sunday's action.

“It was wide open, and there was no one there,” Shockey said of his TD catch — not the ball he dropped two seasons ago. “I have never seen that look in my whole career, and I probably will never see it again. It was a completely busted coverage.”

Burress made a stunning one-handed, 50-yard catch on the final play of the third quarter, and Jacobs rushed for a 1-yard score moments later. Amani Toomer then made a 23-yard catch near the goal line, setting up another 1-yard TD run.

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