So, how was your weekend?
For the Giants, a bye-week respite meant a six-day vacation granted by Tom Coughlin and players scattered across the country to visit with friends and family. When they parted ways, the Giants were fresh off a 15-7 victory in Philadelphia, their second straight triumph after a 0-6 start, and that every other team in the NFC East lost that weekend buoyed the spirits of a team that, when the dust settled, was only two games out of first place.
Well, when a team loses its first six games, it is going to need a ton of help, and the Giants didn’t get any this weekend. They were pushed back further into last place in their division, as the Cowboys (5-4), Eagles (4-5) and Redskins (3-5) all won — some in dramatic fashion, some in spectacular fashion.
The first-place Cowboys, playing at home, were on the cusp of getting beat by the lowly Vikings (1-7). The Vikes led 23-20, and Dallas’ first attempt at a comeback was halted by a Tony Romo fourth-quarter interception. Romo got the ball back on his own 10-yard line with 2:44 remaining and engineered a 90-yard touchdown drive, hitting Dwayne Harris with 35 seconds left to lift the Cowboys to a 27-23 victory.
The Redskins were done, seemingly, when Danny Woodhead dove at the pylon for a touchdown run with 21 seconds left that sure looked as if it would lift the Chargers to a 28-24 victory in Washington. But the touchdown was overturned after a replay-booth review, and the Chargers had first-and-goal at the 1-yard line.
They failed to get the one yard needed to win the game and settled for a field goal with three seconds left. The Redskins got the ball first in overtime and never gave it away, winning 30-24, on Darrel Young’s 4-yard TD run.
There was no drama in Oakland, just the relentless array of touchdown passes from the right arm of Nick Foles, who subbed for injured Michael Vick and led the Eagles to a 49-20 thrashing of the overmatched Raiders. Foles tied an NFL record by firing seven touchdown passes as he threw for 406 yards.
The Giants reassemble on Monday, no doubt well-rested for the second half of the season, but also further behind in the standings than they were when they left.