Fifteen seconds. That’s how long it took for the shabby Giants defense to turn what might have been a rousing and improbable comeback victory into just another example of why they are second-rate this season.
In that slight span the Giants went from potential kings with a share of first place to unquestioned third-place paupers with fading playoff hopes. They fought back to forge ahead 31-30 in a wild and frantic burst of action on a 61-yard scoring pass from Eli Manning to Domenik Hixon. Giants Stadium was alive but not for long.
On the very next play from scrimmage, Donovan McNabb fired downfield to DeSean Jackson with safety Aaron Ross sprinting over way too late to make a difference. Jackson made the catch, Ross dove and Jackson proceeded to embarrass the Giants by back-pedaling the last few yards into the end zone for the winning points in a breathless and at times defenseless 45-38 Eagles triumph for a two-game sweep of the season series.
“This game rests squarely on our shoulders, we did not get the job done, there’s no mistake about that,” Mathias Kiwanuka said of the Giants defense.
The road to the postseason just got considerably tougher. The Eagles (9-4) are alone atop the NFC East, ahead of the Cowboys (8-5) and Giants (7-6). The division is too far gone for the Giants, who now trail the fading Cowboys by one game and own the tiebreaker based on their season series sweep.
“We still have a lot to play for and that’s the way it’s going to be,” coach Tom Coughlin said.
“We don’t have things right right now,” a downcast Justin Tuck added. “This ship is rocky right now but there’s one thing about this team I know, there won’t be no quitting.”
This is now essentially a three-game race to the finish, the Giants and Cowboys battling for the final NFC wild card spot. If indeed the Giants are on the outside looking in blame coordinator Bill Sheridan’s lousy defense as the reason why. The Eagles scored 85 points this season on the Giants and often the scores came with ridiculous ease.
“It’s horsebleep, simple as that,” Tuck said of the Eagles dominance.
They never got a grip on Jackson, the league’s most dangerous playmaker. Jackson scored two touchdowns, the first on a 72-yard punt return.
The Giants after trailing 45-31 pulled within seven points on Manning’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Boss with 1:31 remaining, but they did not recover the ensuing onsides kick as it rolled out of bounds.
This was an absolutely frenetic affair that at times threatened to spin out of control. The one constant was the complete ineptitude of the Giants to cover anyone wearing an Eagles jersey. In the end, it proved to be the Giants undoing.
The Giants amassed 512 total yards, Manning threw for 391 yards and three touchdowns and Steve Smith set a single-season receiving record. But the Giants also lost four fumbles, two by Manning and one when he channeled Mark Sanchez and dove head-first rather than slide after securing the first down.
After Jackson made it 37-31 the Giants suddenly couldn’t budge and the Eagles got the clincher on Leonard Weaver’s touchdown run with 5:48 left.
The Giants sure picked a strange way to come out of the chute, trailing 14-0 just 5:20 into the game. They couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start with an equal mixture of rotten defense and mistake-prone offense. It was inexcusable, considering the Giants were at home and supposedly geared up for a fight.
They did fight back but their defense caved in yet again.
“I didn’t think there was much pressure on the quarterback,” Coughlin said. “We did not cover very well, we did not cover very long.”