EAGLES 22 - GIANTS 21
It turns out that Daniel Jones' 80-yard scamper that turned into a stumble before the endzone was a harbinger of things to come after all.
There are no more moral victories for the New York Giants. Not when the NFC East is on the line. The Giants had a golden opportunity to climb back into the woeful NFC East, holding a 21-10 lead on the Philadelphia Eagles, on the road, with a little over six minutes remaining in the game.
The Giants, for the most part, had done a lot of things right. They dominated the line of scrimmage against the Eagles battered offensive line. They turned around Carson Wentz and company on a crucial fourth and goal at the Giants three, only to watch Daniel Jones and Wayne Gallman respond with a 97-yard scoring drive that gave Big Blue that 11-point advantage.
And at the end of the day it didn't matter.
Had the Giants won this game, they would have been 2-5 -- not exactly impressive, but in this division that nobody wants to win, it would have put Big Blue just a 1/2 game behind the same imploding Dallas Cowboys they should have beaten two weeks ago.
Emphasis on should have!
Instead the Giants limp back to the bus, and limp back up I-95 with a 22-21 loss that can only be explained as a blown opportunity.
After the Eagles quickly scored on a three-yard reception by Greg Ward that cut the Giants lead to 21-16 with 4:38 to play, the Giants had every opportunity to end the game.
And for a little while it looked it would happen. Dreams of a Giants run to the division title could begin to forment in the minds of Giants fans all over North Jersey and New York City as Wayne Gallman had two nifty runs of 14 and 10-yards to move the chains and keep the clock moving under three minutes.
The the inexplicable happened. The fun stopped. Gallman was stopped short on his next two carries, forcing a third and seven from the Giants own 47-yard line with 2:59 and counting. All Daniel Jones had to do was complete a first down pass and the game would essentially be close to over.
Jones lofted a perfect pass down the sideline. Evan Engram was wide open. It was going to happ....until it didn't. Engram dropped the sure completion. The Giants were forced to punt.
The nightmare was only just beginning. All of sudden Wentz was running around and completing passes like the guy who was a MVP candidate three seasons ago. He hit Richard Rodgers twice for gains of 11 and 30 yards each to move into Giants territory. Then the penalties started coming in fast and furious.
James Bradberry was called for pass interference, moving the ball to the New York 21. After Boston Scott had a couple nice runs to the Giants' 9-yard line, safety Logan Ryan was called for interference giving Philly a new set of downs at the Giants' 5.
With :40 to go, the Giants needed to get in field goal range, but even that was asking a lot. The first play of the drive, a seven-yard completion by Jones to Engram was whipped out by a holding penalty against guard Will Hernandez. Two plays later, Jones was stripped sacked as Vinny Curry fell on the ball for the Eagles.
What a disaster. What a nightmare.
On a night where Jones actually played well. He had an 80-yard run that set up a Gallman touchdown in the third quarter that gave New York a 14-10 lead, and overall completed 20-of-30 passes for 187 yards and threw two touchdowns. Gallman, while his stats didn't jump out, was effective on his 10 carries for 34 yards, and Sterling Shepherd returned to lead the Giants in receiving with six catches for 59 yards and a touchdown from Jones that gave New York that ill-fated 21-10 lead.
The Giants have nobody to blame but themselves for this one. It has been a rough year for the Giants. They have had chances to win games. The last second, goalline stand by the Bears in week 2; the blown 14-point lead in Dallas two weeks ago. It is all culminating in a lost year for a team that if it knew how to finish would have been, could have been in the drivers seat in the NFC Least.
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