Eagles Nip Giants in Heart-Pounding Finish

EAGLES 19
GIANTS 17

A difficult situation is getting worse for the defending Super Bowl Champions; Big Blue blew a late 17-16 lead, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles 19-17 in the waning seconds, dropping their second divisional game of the season, while falling to 2-2 on the season. With the Eagles 3-1, and Cowboys 2-1 going into Monday Night Football, the Giants are now stuck looking up at their two biggest rivals, and staring at an uncertain future.

The Giants face a very difficult schedule in the coming weeks, and if New York doesn't get things straightened out, it could be a very disappointing season.

Even though the Giants drove down the field for a potential game winning field goal which Lawrence Tynes missed by mere feet, they didn't deserve to win the game. They never had a lead in the contest and watched as the Eagles gashed them for 191 yards on the ground, including 125 yards by LaSean McCoy.

They watched as Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson played pitch-and-catch for much of the evening, and, when New York did grab the lead late, they couldn't hold on to it.

This was not a pretty game for the Giants offense either. They went five straight possessions in the first half without scoring a point, punting on each of those possessions. It was not until the third quarter that the offense put a solid drive together. The combo of Ahmad Bradshaw and Andre Brown ran for 25-yards on the Giants first possession of the third quarter, and Eli Manning hit Domineck Hixon for 13 yards before finding Victor Cruz for a 14-yard touchdown to tie the game at 10.

The Eagles quickly answered when Michael Vick hit tight end Brent Celek for 27 yards and ran for 18 more to set up an Alex Henry field goal to make it 13-10.

Once again, the Giants offense disappeared. Manning drove Big Blue into the red zone, but was picked off by Domineck Rodgers-Cromartie on a terrible screen pass that ended a potential scoring drive. This eventually led to an Eagles field goal to make it 16-10.

With 9:30 remaining, Manning flexed his fourth quarter muscle, orchestrating a crisp five play 83-yard drive, highlighted by completions of 31 to Ramses Barden, and 41 yards to Cruz. With New York knocking on the door, Manning found Bear Pascoe in the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.

Inspite of their poor play, New York had a lead.

However, Vick and Eagles made the Giants defense look foolish on a 12 play, 75-yard drive. McCoy killed the Giants for 32-yards rushing on the drive; New York never had an answer for the shifty back. The impressive time-consuming drive led to another Henry field goal. But with 1:52 to go, it left little room for error by New York.

When the Giants needed Manning at his very best, he couldn't deliver. The Giants got two very fortunate pass interference calls, especially one on Philly corner Namdi Asomugha, who didn't appear to grab Barden at all. He was flagged setting up a first down for the Giants at the Philly 27. However, Manning was unable to move the Giants any farther.

Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes, who has won so many games in the past, got the shot to end it for the Giants, but he his kick fell just short of the goal post; Giants lose.

With the loss, the Giants are now in last place in the NFC East, trailing Philly, Dallas and Washington. While New York is 2-2 on the year, they are 0-2 in the NFC East, which is a huge turn of events for a team that had such high expectations this year coming off its Super Bowl title. The Giants get to Cleveland next week, a game they should win easily, but, after that, it gets rough. San Francisco, Washington, Pittsburgh, Dallas and Cincinnati highlight the upcoming schedule. If the Giants have any hopes of getting back to the postseason, they are going to have to turn things around real fast, especially in divisional play.