After Fast Start, Giants Slim Playoff Hopes Dashed in Philly

EAGLES 25 - GIANTS 22 

The was once an old saying by the late Dennis Green, "They are who we thought they were."

That is exactly the case with the New York Giants. They are who we thought they were all along. After winning two straight games, New York was going crazy for a very unlikely playoff run in the NFC East, if Big Blue could win out the rest of its games. That fairy tale scenario ended in a dud as the Giants couldn't hold a 16-point lead, and lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 25-22 on Sunday.

Two game winning streak? Playoffs? All a mirage just like the 19-3 lead the Giants built.

The Giants have nobody to blame but themselves for this meltdown. The Giants did seemingly everything right in the first half. Eli Manning was near perfect, and the offense was clicking on all cylinders.

Saquon Barkley was tearing apart the Eagles and Rhett Ellison was having a career game at tight end. It was all there for the Giants, especially when Barkley scored on a 51-yard scamper to give the Giants that now-infamous 19-3 lead.

Then the bottom fell out.

After Philadelphia scored a touchdown and converted on a two-point conversion to cut the Giants' lead to 19-11, Eli Manning had the Giants in position for a late score before intermission. On second and 10 from the Eagles' 27-yard line, all Manning had to do was hit Barkely in the flat for a big gainer to set up an easy field goal attempt. Instead, Manning ripped the ball down field for a heavily covered Odell Beckham Jr. Malcolm Jenkins made the interception in what proved to be the turning point of the game.

The Giants offense went into a complete shell. Saquon Barkley would only touch the football four more times for the rest of the afternoon, and the Giants managed only 51 yards of offense for the entire second half. It was beyond putrid.

All the things that failed the Giants all season from poor offensive line play, to horrible quarterback play reared its ugly head at the most inopportune time.

Instead the Eagles slowly crawled their way back into the game. Trailing 19-14, quarterback Carson Wentz hit Corey Clement for a 23-yard gain to spot the ball in Giants territory. From there running back Josh Adams ate up Big Blue, gashing them for 30-yards on four carries, including a touchdown to put Philly out in front 20-19. The Eagles would convert the two point conversion to give themselves a three-point lead.

Still this tease of a game had one more tease in store for Giants' fans. Manning again had Big Blue moving after hitting Rhett Ellison on a 29-yard pass completion to move the football to the Eagles' 17-yard line. And, again the rug was pulled out right from underneath the Giants when the offense stalled at the Eagle 11-yard line after another Odell Beckham drop.  Instead of a game-winning touchdown, the Giants had to settle for three to tie the game.

With close to six minutes left, Carson Wentz had more than enough time to march the Eagles downfield on a long, time consuming drive as Philly converted on a Jake Elliot field goal to stun the Giants 25-22.

As was mentioned by Fox Sports broadcaster Chris Spielman during the Eagle comeback, the Giants left too many points on the field. Way back in the first quarter, New York inexplicably went for two points after scoring the opening touchdown. That conversion was a complete failure as Manning's pass to Elijhaa Penny fell incomplete. Instead of an 8-0 lead, the Giants had a 6-0 lead. Those two points, and the botched final drive of the first half left points on the board for Big Blue. Points the Giants could have used to stave off a Philadelphia Eagle comeback.

Instead, all the Giants proved Sunday was they are who we thought they were. A 3-8, going nowhere football team.