Beckham, Manning had never practiced the touchdown play

The most amazing thing about the fourth-quarter touchdown catch by Odell Beckham Jr. wasn't the adjustment Beckham made to the back-shoulder throw by Eli Manning. It wasn't the leaping catch itself. It wasn't the beautiful throw from Manning. It was the fact that it was a route Manning, with four days of practice together with Beckham, had never thrown to the rookie wide receiver.

The play was a go-route from the 15-yard line on which Beckham drew single coverage on the left sideline.

"He did a great job making a play on it. It was good coverage, obviously the guy was holding him so it makes the coverage better, but he reacted to the ball well," Manning said. "You like to see receivers see the ball in the air, have good body control, jump up in the air and catch it. It was a nice play by him and obviously a huge play in the game."

Beckham credited Manning with making a great throw on the play.

"I didn't get the best release and didn't make it the easiest throw for him," Beckham said. Fortunately for us I got it into the end zone."

Beckham said he shed tears of joy during the national anthem and that "words can't even describe" how he felt after catching four passes and helping the Giants win in his NFL debut.

"To be out this long and to have to deal with the adversity I've had I just want to thank God for giving me the opportunity to play and allowing me to score in my first game," Beckham said.

Manning said he and Beckham "still have a lot of work to do."

"We've only had four practices and one game together. I think he has some great speed, catches the ball well, runs good routes. Excited about what he can do to help out our offense."

Head coach Tom Coughlin was also impressed by what he was from Beckham.

"For the first time back and for not having the preseason and all those types of things. The athleticism was obvious to everybody and his speed will have to be reckoned with."

Beckham, the last 2014 first-round pick to see action, waited a long time to show the Giants what he could do.

"It's tough anytime your out and you're injured and what you love to do is taken away from you. It challenges your character as a man. I definitely don't think it was easy for me to have to hear about it every day," Beckham said. "It was a constant reminder when I get the opportunity I've got to make the most of it. You never know when your last one will be. I'm in the right direction right now. There's still tons more work to do. There's a few times I didn't take the best release and didn't give Eli the amount of space to throw. There's a lot of things that we need to work on."

The Giants are thankful they finally have their first-round pick on the field. As 'Raptor' said earlier, he certainly appears to have been worth the wait.