The Giants continued their nightmare of a season and it is now getting to the point where it’s conceivable that even the jobs that were considered eternally safe might not make it to the bye. Whatever hope that remained in making a run in the woeful NFC East has all but evaporated, and the season has now reached into potential top-pick territory. With the pedigree of these Giants, it seemed unfathomable that they would plunge to these depths. It’s a shocking fall from grace that now appears to be only getting worse.
No Vick? No Problem: Michael Vick left the game before the first half with a hamstring injury, so the Giants might have thought they were getting a huge break towards shutting down the high-powered Eagles offense with Nick Foles at the controls. Unfortunately, Foles played the game-manager label to a tee; picking his spots to exploit a depleted and inexperienced Giants DB corps repeatedly. The Arizona product looked more than capable of being a potential long-term solution at quarterback for the Eagles, going 16-25, for 197 yards and two touchdowns.
Not Tom Coughlin’s Best Day: Typically, it’s easy to understand, or at the very least, to be able to rationalize Coughlin’s decisions. He doesn’t often make the kind of calls that make you scratch your head, but he made a pretty big blunder in the first quarter. While nursing a 7-3 lead, the Eagles were called for a holding penalty on third down. Conventional wisdom would have the Giants decline the penalty, right?
Well…
As luck would have it (and it’s now crystal clear that the Giants have none of the good kind), Micheal Vick got the first down on a 34-yard scramble. The Eagles would turn the drive into a field goal and the Eagles would grab the majority of the momentum the rest of the way.
While this was an error in judgment by the coach, the second blunder was the fault of Walt Anderson’s ref crew in blowing a replay that Coughlin had to burn a timeout on mid-way in the third quarter, further crippling a beleaguered offense that could not afford bad breaks.
Eli is Not Elite at the Moment: The poor guy has no help, so it’s probably unfair to expect him to be Superman. But the reality is, he’s got a lot to do with the awfulness right now. Manning threw for another three interceptions (one of which shouldn’t have counted; it was not Anderson’s crew’s greatest day), which raised his season total to a ghastly nine in just five games. He was also flagged for three intentional-grounding penalties. If not for big days from Hakeem Nicks (nine catches for 142 yards) and the emerging Rueben Randle (six for 96 yards and two touchdowns), it would’ve been one of Eli’s worst days of his career.
Obligatory O-Line Mention: They’re bad. It ain’t getting better.
Up Next: The Giants will travel to Chicago on a short week to play for whatever shred of pride they may have. The morale is likely at rock bottom at this point. If it isn’t, it stands to wonder just where that level of deep depth actually is. Nowhere to go but up from here.
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