NFL

Giants keel over in fourth as season spirals to death

The Giants were rolling and the joint was jumping. The Giants had dug themselves out of a 12-point hole and Eli Manning’s second third-quarter touchdown pass to Rueben Randle put his desperate team ahead by two.

At long last, the Giants appeared as if they might have a season, after all.

“I thought that was when we got our swagger back,’’ Victor Cruz said.

“The crowd was electric there and you got positive momentum,’’ Justin Tuck said wistfully. “That was reminiscent of better times here.’’

The better times have come and gone, and no longer can be found on the MetLife Stadium premises. Starving for their first victory, the Giants on Sunday surged ahead and then, abruptly and astonishingly, went back into the fetal position, all-but laying down as they drowned under a sea of three Eli Manning fourth-quarter interceptions. They watched the rival Eagles dance their way to 17 unanswered points to absorb a 36-21 loss in a season beyond repair and almost impossible to fathom.

This is the first 0-5 start by the Giants in a non-strike season since 1979. The last time the Giants were 0-6 was 1976, their first year in the Meadowlands, and that should be on the menu soon enough, as the Giants on Thursday night get fed to the Bears in Chicago. The 182 points allowed by the Giants are the most through five games by any team since the Raiders gave up 187 back in 1961, when Tom Coughlin was a 15-year old back in Waterloo. Manning has 12 interceptions and is so off his game Coughlin, his greatest admirer, called two of the interceptions “almost unbelievable’’ and lamented, “he’s too good a player to have these things happen.’’

No team in NFL history started 0-5 and went on to make the playoffs. At this point, finding more than two or three wins on the schedule is a challenge for a team that has completely unraveled.

“We just need to pick it up, get our head out of our [butts],’’ said Antrel Rolle, who last week stated he believed the Giants could go 12-0 after their 0-4 start. “That’s the reality of it.’’

It is the sad state of Giants football, circa 2013. It didn’t matter at all that the Eagles [2-3] came in riding a three-game losing streak or that Michael Vick strained his left hamstring in the second quarter and was replaced by Nick Foles in the second half. Foles carved up the Giants, tossing fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Brent Celek and DeSean Jackson as the Giants gave up more than 30 points for the fifth consecutive game.

Alex Henery’s fifth field goal put the Eagles ahead 22-21 late in the third, but the Giants had the entire fourth quarter to regain the lead. Instead, they self-destructed and their franchise quarterback was the main culprit.

With 10:35 remaining, Manning, under duress, made a throw he never should have attempted, double-pumping and forcing the ball to a covered Brandon Jacobs. With no room to maneuver, Manning’s pass glanced off the helmet of his center, Jim Cordle, and floated into the air, allowing linebacker Mychal Kendricks to come up with the interception and 18-yard return to the Giants’ 25-yard line.

“That’s on me, I’ve got to be smarter and if I feel pressure I can’t throw the ball in there,’’ Manning said.

On the next play, Foles hit Celek for a touchdown, beating safety Ryan Mundy, and the Giants were spiraling out of control.

Manning on the next series was picked off again. This time cornerback Brandon Boykin out-muscled Cruz for the ball on the Giants’ 38. This time, it took four plays before Foles had the Eagles in the end zone again and the rout was on.

“I honestly believe that he’s trying too hard to get us a win, he’s almost put too much pressure on himself,’’ Coughlin said of Manning.

By the end, the vast majority of the announced crowd of 80,738 had long-since escaped to the parking lot. Before then, the Giants had been booed lustily as they trudged off the field at halftime, down 19-7.

“We deserved to get booed,’’ Tuck said. “They come here to see a good product and right now we’re not a good product.’’

With another game in four days, it can get even worse more quickly than usual.

“There’s only two ways to finish this season,’’ Tuck said. “That’s either figuring out some kind of way to right this ship and get some positive momentum going here or you can sulk and start feeling sorry for yourself and have the worst season ever in Giants history.’’