NFL Game Summary - Minnesota at NY Giants

East Rutherford, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) - Peyton Hillis hadn't been in the Metropolitan area since posing for the 2012 Madden cover.

From the cover boy to jobless in less than three years, Hillis returned to the national spotlight on Monday.

Hillis ran for a touchdown and Eli Manning didn't throw an interception for the first time this season in the New York Giants' 23-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings.

The 27-year-old Hillis tallied 36 yards rushing on 18 carries, while hauling in five passes for 45 yards for New York (1-6). Manning was 23-of-39 for 200 yards and a touchdown.

The Giants signed Hillis Wednesday as insurance to an unsettled backfield. Starting running back David Wilson is out with a neck injury he suffered Oct. 6. A timetable for his return hasn't been set. Brandon Jacobs, re-signed last month, suffered a hamstring injury in last Thursday's loss to the Bears. He was inactive Monday.

Hillis hasn't approached the numbers he put up in his breakout 2010 campaign with the Brown where he ran for 1,177 yards and 11 scores with 477 yards and two touchdowns receiving.

After a disastrous 2011 season where he accumulated just 587 yards and three scores on the ground, Hillis relocated to Kansas City. He struggled for the Chiefs in 2012 before inking a deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last summer. The Bucs released him in September.

The newly-acquired Josh Freeman was 20-of-53 for 190 yards with an interception for Minnesota (1-5).