Washington Win Knocks Giants Out of Playoffs

 WASHINGTON 20 - EAGLES 14 

The Giants can sit there and stew all they want. They can blame Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson for removing quarterback Jalen Hurts from the ball game in the fourth quarter, down 17-14 for Nate Sudfeld all they want. Bottom line is the Giants didn't do enough to make the playoffs. 

 

The Giants were in this position, hoping against hope that the Eagles would shock Washington and essentially send Big Blue to their inevitable playoff extinction at the hands of Tom Brady and the Bucs, because they didn't do their job. 

The Giants lost four games this year by four points or less, including an excruciating 22-21 loss to the Eagles and a 25-23 loss to the Bucs in the middle of the year. The Giants also had fate in their hands when they won up in Seattle in Week 13 to get to 5-7. Then they lost three straight, including no show performances against the Cardinals, Browns and Ravens. 

And yet members of the Giants, including the fans have the audacity to blame Philly? The Giants are owed no explanation. If anything Doug Pederson owes his own players in Philadelphia an explanation. Maybe he's trying to get fired? Who knows. But he owes the Giants nothing. 

 

The Giants finished 6-10 this year. They made strides this year, looked like a real football most of the time. They have a head coach in Joe Judge the players bought into this year, and who actually looks like he might be the promising leader the Giants have been looking for since they fired Tom Coughlin at the end of the 2015 season. 

The quarterback though might be another story. Chances are Daniel Jones will be back under center next year, but he will have a microscope on him big time much the way Sam Darnold did this year with the Jets. Jones needs to step it big time in 2021. 

So the Giants season is over. Keep sulking Giants fans over spilled milk. Blame the Eagles all you want. Bottom line is if the Giants had just taken care of business this year, they wouldn't have had to rely on the Eagles in Week 17.