CHICAGO — The ball floated in the air, fired from the right arm of Eli Manning and with it hung the fate of the Giants, the still-winless Giants, as they somehow, some way tried to get that elusive first victory. What had looked as if it would be a rout was now a fight to the finish, with the Giants down by six points, but driving.
And then, per usual in this miserable season, disaster struck.
Manning’s pass sailed too high, intended for tight end Brandon Myers, and of course that meant it was headed into the wrong hands. Myers, who was open, leaped but to no avail, as the ball glanced off his fingers and found Bears cornerback Tim Jennings.
There was 1:54 remaining in the game Thursday night and Manning once again made the clock strike midnight. His third interception of the game doomed his team, as the comeback the Giants were fashioning instead became a 27-21 loss to the Bears at Soldier Field. Of all the misery this season, this one might have been the most agonizing because the desperate Giants actually had a shot.
“We’re all sick of it,’’ Tom Coughlin said. “We’re all sick of the losing.’’
No one is sicker of all this than Manning, who was more emotional than he has been in his decade with the Giants in describing his inability to shake this turnover funk and shake all this losing.
“I don’t feel I’m doing my part to get this team some wins and some chances,’’ Manning said. “Guys are doing their parts and I need to start doing mine.’’
Of the fateful final pass, Manning said, “I obviously threw the ball a little too high,’’ as he took the hit for this latest failure.
“I feel bad for my teammates, I feel bad for my coaches,’’ Manning said. “Everybody is fighting every day and I’m fighting, too. I’m trying to get a win for these guys but, you know, it’s tough.
The Giants, with Brandon Jacobs rumbling for 106 yards and two touchdowns, had trimmed a 27-14 deficit and were on the Bears 36-yard line when Manning did them in with his 15th interception of the season. He threw his first less than a minute into the game and, less than five minutes later, Manning was picked off again, this time when he threw an out and Rueben Randle kept right on running. The blown route by Randle turned into a 48-yard touchdown return by Jennings.
This wasn’t a rout and wasn’t a disaster, but it showed the Giants are simply not good enough. The Bears (4-2) broke a two-game losing streak. Sunday, the Eagles snapped a three-game skid by beating the Giants, who are everyone’s get-well opponent.
On and on it goes. The last time the Giants were 0-6? That would be 1976, on their way to 0-9 en route to a 3-11 season. The head coach, Bill Arnsparger, was fired after loss No. 7.
At least the Giants held the Bears under 30 points after giving up 30 or more points in each of their first five games. The Bears did not have to punt until there was 5:29 left in the third quarter. After getting shredded by Jay Cutler’s two touchdown passes to Brandon Marshall, the Giants defense — helped mightily by linebacker Jon Beason making his first start — clamped down and allowed only three points in the second half.
“It just seemed like this was the time we were going to get over the hump,’’ Justin Tuck said.
The Giants overcame the early Manning turnovers to pull even at 14 but trailed 24-14 at halftime. The Bears extended their lead to 27-14 on Robbie Gould’s 52-yard field goal early in the third quarter. Helped by a 31-yard catch-and-run by Hakeem Nicks, Jacobs scored on his second rushing touchdown and the Giants were within 27-21 heading into the fourth quarter.
With 5:21 remaining, Manning got the ball on his own 11-yard line. Jacobs started things off with a 14-yard run. Da’Rel Scott picked up 15 yards, but hurt his right hamstring and limped off. Two plays later, Manning threw it to the wrong team.
“This team needs to understand, we all need to understand as coaches and players and everyone who is involved with the New York Giants organization, it doesn’t have to come down to the fourth quarter,’’ Antrel Rolle said. “It doesn’t have to come down to the final play. So far this season it seems like that’s where we’ve been living. We’ve been living on the edge. Obviously things are not rolling in our favor so we need to take control of our own destiny and start putting teams away early.’’
What made this loss more difficult to accept was that the offensive line opened holes and gave Manning time and he had a running game to lean on. The defense kept getting the ball back to Manning in the second half. Yet he could not finish the job.
“I know he’s frustrated,’’ Tuck said. “He wants to come here and be the Eli of old and lead us to victory.’’