EASY, ELI: Eli Manning led the Giants back from the brink of defeat to the lead against the Eagles in the fourth quarter last night, then almost did it again — only to watch Lawrence Tynes’ last-gasp 54-yard field goal fall short in a 19-17 loss. (AP)
PHILADELPHIA — Eli Manning had the game won. He had the Eagles at his mercy. He had his team in field goal position.
And then he went for the jugular, and left the Linc with the blood on his hands.
You live by the sword, you die by the sword, and last night Manning died by the sword.
Out of timeouts with 25 seconds left, from the Philadelphia 26, Manning looked downfield for Ramses Barden because he wanted to move Lawrence Tynes closer to a game-winning field goal try.
Manning wound up moving him 10 yards back because Barden was flagged for pass interference against Nnamdi Asomugha.
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Tynes wound up missing short on a 54-yard field goal attempt on third down with 15 seconds left, and the Giants wound up bitter 19-17 losers.
Manning applauded Barden for making sure Asomugha did not intercept the ball.
“Not a good throw on me, put Ramses in a bad position where the DB could have intercepted,” Manning said. “Smart move by him.”
Not a smart move by the smart quarterback getting greedy. Greed kills most quarterbacks. Usually not the elite quarterbacks. Usually not him. Usually not him in the fourth quarter.
“We had some runs called that we checked out of, based on the looks that they were running, and didn’t feel like we had an opportunity to get very many yards,” Manning said.
“I think as an offensive mindset, even when a field goal wins, if you can score a touchdown, we like to score a touchdown. If we can get the ball as close as possible, or you have a shot to win the game scoring a touchdown and not have to rely on a field goal, that’s the way we feel as an offense.”
But here’s the rub. Tynes had been 11-for-11 on field goals before the fateful miss. He actually missed twice — the first attempt, wide left, had been negated by an Eagles timeout. You have to believe he would have nailed a 44-yarder.
“We trust Lawrence that he’s gonna make those field goals if we put him in close enough, but we still don’t want to leave anything to chance,” Manning said.
“But obviously, you don’t want to force things, and don’t want to have mistakes, and we had a mistake tonight.”
Was there time for one more play?
“Anything down the field or if the ball is tackled in play, you may be able to get up and spike it, but you may not,” Manning said.
Barden was his first read. Twice on that drive, Barden had drawn pass interference penalties, one for 21 yards against Dominic Rodgers-Cromartie, one for 8 yards against Asomugha. The third time wasn’t the charm.
“I thought it was on him,” Barden said. Then he wasn’t so sure. “I want to be the one to make a play, nobody else,” he said. “It might have been offensive pass interference, I really don’t know. But what’s done is done.”
Coach Tom Coughlin was undoubtedly second-guessing himself on the Big Blue bus back home.
“We were in field goal range at one time,” Coughlin said. “And the thought of running and then clocking the ball was a definite thought.
“Pass interference was the worst thing that could have happened.”
To that point, the worst thing that could have happened was Michael Vick finally remembering how to be Michael Vick, tormenting Big Blue with his arm and legs on the field goal drive that gave the Eagles the lead.
Manning had made an uncharacteristic mistake on the first play of the fourth quarter after David Wilson’s 53-yard kickoff return had positioned him at the Philadelphia 49.
Fourth-and-inches now.
The Linc standing and howling.
Fourteen seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The shotgun snap to Manning was low. No matter.
Manning looked up and saw Victor Cruz over the middle past Rodgers-Cromartie.
By the time Cruz was through, he had 30 yards, and Manning had first-and-goal at the 10.
But then Manning looked left into the end zone for Martellus Bennett, who was double-covered. The ball had too much air under it, and Rodgers-Cromartie leaped in front of Bennett for the interception.
When Manning got the ball back, it was Eagles 16, Giants 10.
He started at his 17, 9:19 left on the clock. He lobbed one over Asomugha to Barden for 31 yards. Then Manning fired over the middle for Hixon for 41 yards.
Two plays later, Manning hit Bear Pascoe over the middle for the six-yard TD that made it Giants 17, Eagles 16 with 6:45 left.
Five plays, 83 yards.
All for naught.
Greed kills.