Giants Fall to Eagles 19-17: The New York Giants fell to the Philadelphia Eagles 19-17 on Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field. The loss dropped the Giants to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in the NFC East. The Eagles have now beaten the Giants in eight of the last nine games played between the two teams.
The Eagles dramatically out-gained the Giants in net rushing yards (191 to 57) and hence held a good advantage in time of possession (33:21 to 26:39).
The Giants’ offense struggled mightily in the first half of the game as the Giants punted the ball away on their first five possessions. In those five possessions, New York only gained six first downs and 86 net yards. Finally, on the Giants’ sixth and final possession of the half, the team drove 81 yards in 10 plays to set up 25 yard field goal.
Meanwhile, the Eagles were not terribly productive offensively either. Their first four drives ended with punts after gaining only three first downs and 81 net yards. However, on their fifth drive of the half, Philadelphia drove 65 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown when QB Michael Vick hit WR DeSean Jackson for a 19-yard touchdown on 3rd-and-9.
At the half, the Eagles led 7-3.
The Giants’ defense did not allow a touchdown in the second half of the game, but it bent and bent and allowed points on each of Philadelphia’s four second-half possessions. The Giants’ defense allowed drives of 9-plays for 78 yards, 8-plays for 50 yards, 11 plays for 74 yards, and 12 plays for 75 yards. The last drive was particularly bothersome because it came after the Giants had re-gained the lead 17-16 with less than seven minutes to play in the game.
The Giants’ offense also came alive in the second half. After the Eagles scored a field goal on their opening possession of the second half to take a 10-3 lead, the Giants drove 57 yards in 8 plays to tie the game. HB David Wilson gave the Giants’ good field position with a 45-yard kickoff return and QB Eli Manning finished the drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to WR Victor Cruz.
After the Eagles put up another three points to regain the lead 13-10, Wilson again gave the Giants good field position with a 53-yard kickoff return. The Giants went for it on 4th-and-1 from the Eagles’ 40-yard line and converted with a 30-yard pass from Manning to Cruz. But on the very next play, Manning’s pass intended for TE Martellus Bennett was intercepted at the Philadelphia 9-yard line.
The Eagles put together another long field goal drive to extend their advantage to 16-10. The Giants then quickly drove the field with big pass plays to WR Ramses Barden for 31 yards and WR Domenik Hixon for 41 yards. Manning finished the drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to TE Bear Pascoe. Giants 17 – Eagles 16 with 6:45 to play.
But as mentioned, the defense could not hold. The Eagles went ahead 19-17 with 1:49 left to play. The Giants had one more shot.
Wilson gave the Giants decent field position with a 37-yard return to the 35-yard line. But after three plays, the Giants faced a 4th-and-1. Manning’s deep pass to Barden was incomplete but the Eagles were flagged with a 21-yard pass interference penalty. After two incomplete passes, another pass interference penalty gave the Giants a first down on the Eagles’ 27-yard line. However, two plays later, Manning attempted a deep pass to Barden and Barden offensively interfered with the defender, pushing the Giants back 10 yards to the Eagles’ 36-yard line. After another deep shot to Hixon fell incomplete, Head Coach Tom Coughlin decided to attempt a 54-yard field goal on third down with 10 seconds left on the clock. Tynes’ kick was short and the game was lost.
Offensively, Manning finished 24-of-42 for 309 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Cruz caught 9 passes for 109 yards and 1 touchdown and Hixon caught 6 passes for 114 yards. The Giants struggled to run the ball as HB Ahmad Bradshaw gained 39 yards on 13 carries and HB Andre Brown gained 14 yards on 5 carries.
Defensively, the Giants did not force a turnover against a team that had been turnover-prone heading into the contest. The Giants picked up two sacks, one each by LB Chase Blackburn and DE Osi Umenyiora. Vick, however, was only officially hit three times. And the Giants gave up 191 rushing yards.
Highlights/lowlights of the game are available at NFL.com.
Injury Update: S Kenny Phillips injured his his left knee in the first half of the game and did not return. The knee injured is not the same as the one he seriously injured in 2009. However, it is not known yet how severe the injury is.
Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s Post-Game Press Conference: The video of Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s post-game press conference is available at Giants.com.
Post-Game Player Media Q&As: Video clips of the following player media Q&As after the game are available at Giants.com:
Post-Game Notes: Inactive for the Giants were WR Hakeem Nicks (foot), OT David Diehl (knee), LB Keith Rivers (hamstring), CB Jayron Hosley (hamstring), DE Adewale Ojomo (hamstring), TE Adrien Robinson, and OG Mitch Petrus.
Eric Kennedy
Eric Kennedy is Editor-in-Chief of BigBlueInteractive.com, a publication of Big Blue Interactive, LLC. Follow @BigBlueInteract on Twitter.
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