The last time an NFL team blew a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter, as the Giants did yesterday, was . . . the Giants.
The Giants owned a 31-10 lead yesterday with 8:17 remaining but then crashed and burned in a 38-31 Eagles victory on DeSean Jackson’s 65-yard game-winning punt return. It was the worst fourth-quarter collapse in the league since the Giants blew a 21-0 lead in Nashville when Vince Young infamously slipped out of Mathias Kiwanuka’s grasp in the final minutes of the Titans’ 24-21 victory back in 2006.
“I don’t know if you remember Tennessee a few years ago,” special teamer Chase Blackburn said. “With the way we finished that game, I think it’s very comparable. This is worse because it’s in the division, but very comparable.”
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The last gasp for the Giants’ offense came on third-and-8 from the Eagles’ 40-yard line when Manning faced a blitz and rushed a pass that did not seem intended for anyone. The blitz was supposed to prompt a sight adjustment for the inside receiver, Derek Hagan, but instead of cutting off his route he kept running downfield.
“We kind of worked on an answer for that and we didn’t get it executed, so it is frustrating because he has worked on it,” Manning said.
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Lost amid the meltdown was the return of center Shaun O’Hara, who had missed the previous six games with a mid-foot sprain.
“I thought it was OK,” O’Hara said. “We knew it was going to get sore, and that certainly happened. When you’re winning it feels good. It really started hurting when that clock went to triple zero. I think the emotional hurt right now is worse than the physical hurt.”
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There was plenty of rough play and after-the-whistle action but no personal fouls were called. The Giants did notice how Jackson showboated before going into the end zone on the winning touchdown.
“We don’t like him anyways, so I don’t know how you add to that,” O’Hara said of his reaction to Jackson’s antics. “We already don’t like him.”
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Jackson became the first player in NFL history to score a game-winning touchdown on a punt return on the final play of the fourth quarter. . . . The Giants finished up 5-3 in their new stadium. . . . With four touchdown passes, Eli Manning has a career-high 28 this season.
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Eagles coach Andy Reid might have saved his team a touchdown in the first quarter had he challenged a diving 22-yard catch by Hakeem Nicks. Replays showed the ball hit the ground after Nicks scooped it up.
“I should have challenged that one, people were telling me from the replay,” Reid said. “I goofed.”
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Defensive end Dave Tollefson was forced out with a sprained knee covering a kickoff in the second quarter and did not return.