Philadelphia Eagles 36 – New York Giants 21

Ughhh…. – © USA TODAY Sports Images

Deeper Into the Abyss, the New York Giants Fall to 0-5: The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New York Giants 36-21 on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. With the loss, the Giants have fallen to 0-5 (and 0-2 in the NFC East).

For the second week in a row, a close game got away from the Giants late. The game started off well for New York as the Giants’ defense forced a three-and-out on Philadelphia’s first possession. And the Giants quickly went up 7-0 as the G-Men drove 62 yards in five plays. The big play was a 49-yard pass from QB Eli Manning to WR Hakeem Nicks. Two plays later, RB David Wilson scored from five yards out.

After that, however, the New York Giants’ offense went dormant for the rest of the first half as one of the worst defenses in the NFL forced the Giants to punt four times and also caused RB Brandon Jacobs to fumble.

Meanwhile, the Eagles scored 19 unanswered points in the half, with one touchdown and four field goals. The Giants’ defense only forced one other punt in the first half and embarrassingly allowed QB Michael Vick to scramble for 34 yards on 3rd-and-20 on one of the field goal drives. (For some reason, Tom Coughlin accepted a holding penalty on the play preceding this snafu instead of declining it and making it 4th-and-4 near mid-field). Vick later would be forced to leave the game late in the second quarter with a hamstring injury, but back-up QB Nick Foles had no problem carving up the Giants’ defense.

Momentum swung back in favor of the Giants in the third quarter. After a three-and-out on their opening possession of the second half, New York scored touchdowns on their next two drives, both capped off with touchdown throws from Manning to WR Rueben Randle. The first drive was a 7-play, 87-yard affair with Randle scoring from 26 yards out. The next drive was a 7-play, 51-yard effort with Randle scoring from six yards out. The Giants led 21-19 late in the third quarter.

But the Eagles scored the next 17 points to run away with the game. An 8-play, 57-yard drive set up the go-ahead 41-yard field goal to make the game 22-21. The Giants went three-and-out and then Manning turned into a turnover machine, throwing interceptions on the next three drives. The Eagles quickly put the game away after the first two of these interceptions by scoring touchdowns, including on the first play after the first interception (a 25-yard pass to TE Brent Celek) and then a 4-play, 38-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard pass to WR DeSean Jackson. Game, set, and match.

“It all comes down to the interceptions,” said Coughlin after the game. “Two of them were just… almost unbelievable… There were a couple of those plays that were terrible… He’s way, way too good a player to have these kinds of things happen.”

Offensively, Manning finished the game 24-of-52 for 334 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. Nicks caught nine passes for 142 yards, Randle six passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns, and Victor Cruz five catches for 48 yards. Brandon Jacobs only gained 37 yards on 11 carries and David Wilson 16 yards on six carries. The Giants were held to a measly 53 yards rushing.

Defensively, the Giants allowed the Eagles to accrue 439 total net yards including 299 net yards passing and 140 net yards rushing. Backup QB Nick Foles completed nine of his first eleven passes. The Giants’ defense did not force one turnover and only had one sack.

Video lowlights are available at NFL.com.

Injury Report: RB David Wilson left the game in the first quarter with a neck injury and did not return. The injury is not believed to be serious. DE Mathias Kiwanuka injured his ribs. S Cooper Taylor and LS Zak DeOssie had x-rays taken  for unknown injuries after the game.

Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s Post-Game Press Conference: The transcript and video of Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s post-game press conference are available at Giants.com.

Post-Game Player Media Q&As: Transcripts and video of the post-game media Q&As with the following players are available at Giants.com:

• QB Eli Manning (Video)
• WR Victor Cruz (Video)
• OL David Diehl (Video)
• DE Justin Tuck (Video)
• LB Spencer Paysinger (Video)
• CB Prince Amukamara (Video)
• S Antrel Rolle (Video)
• S Will Hill (Video)

Post-Game Notes: Inactive for the Giants were QB Ryan Nassib, WR Louis Murphy (ankle), TE Adrien Robinson (foot), OC David Baas (neck), DT Linval Joseph (ankle/knee), CB Corey Webster (hip), and CB Jayron Hosley (hamstring).