When you have only lost one time in the last 344 days, seeing what happened yesterday does provide you a little shock.
As it was playing out on a cold, exceedingly windy day at Giants Stadium, you were hoping for a moment that would spark the team against the Philadelphia Eagles.
After it became apparent that there would be no sustained joy on this day, all Giants fans had to take in a loss that was as thorough as it can get.
Give the Eagles (7-5-1) credit. Needing a win to keep any hopes of a postseason berth alive, they put their best foot forward on a day when the world champions were clearly not their best and emerged with a 20-14 victory.
The final score is so misleading it is ridiculous. With the exception of Kevin Dockery’s return of a blocked field goal 71 yards for a touchdown and Eli Manning garbage time touchdown pass to third string tight end Darcy Johnson, the Eagles pitched a shutout against the league’s best team.
On a day where the conditions hampered both offenses, it appeared the Giants (11-2) were going to get on the board first. After a field goal by David Akers gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead, the offense was ready to respond.
At their own 15, Eli Manning on a play action fake against the wind and threw deep downfield to receiver Domenik Hixon who had beat cornerback Asante Samuel by several steps. However, Hixon had the sure touchdown slip right through his hands. An eventual 47-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Eagles defensive end Trent Cole.
Later in the half, Philadelphia converted on two third downs of seven and ten yards. At the Giants 30 yard line, the defense stacked 10 men at the line of scrimmage. Running back Brian Westbrook ran himself into the hole and with no additional defenders in sight, he ran out of the hole to daylight for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead.
Wide receiver Steve Smith dropped a sure completion on fourth down late in the half to end another Giants drive and the Eagles were set to go up 13-0 before the break as they moved the ball into field goal range. Akers’ kick would be blocked by Justin Tuck, Kevin Dockery was able to recover the ball, and race 71 yards the other way for a touchdown to cut the lead to 10-7 as time expired.
In a game where the offense and defense appeared to be a bit sluggish, that play should have been able to swing the momentum in the favor going into the third quarter. Instead, Eagles Coach Andy Reid stuck to their gameplan of keeping things simple and it would eventually pay off.
With the wind in their favor for the third quarter, the Giants defense was unable to get the Eagles off the field, allowing them to hold the ball for 11:42 of the period and only ran six offensive plays.
On the third play of the fourth quarter on a third-and-11, quarterback Donovan McNabb bought time with great protection from his offensive line, waited for Westbrook to come free after his initial chip block of Mathias Kiwanuka and found him one-on-one with Antonio Pierce for a reception and an eventual 40 yard touchdown to increase the lead to 17-7.
The offense, which failed to get into a rhythm all day, had one final realistic chance with 9:35 remaining at the Eagles 38 yard line, but were stopped again. Needing a yard on fourth down, Manning was pressured and his short pass to Sinorice Moss was incomplete as Philadelphia took over and the fans began to look for the exits and their cars for a warmer climate.
In garbage time, the offense moved 70 yards in six plays to make the score more respectable, but it would not matter. The Giants were offsides on the onside kick to finally conclude matters.
The world champions were held to 211 total yards (141 before the last drive), their lowest output of the season. Manning played his worst game, going 13 for 27 for 123 yards – dressed up by the fact he went 6 for 6 for 70 yards and the teams late minute scoring drive. The running game that has been the best in the NFL was limited to only 88 yards.
McNabb did not play his best, but he was efficient enough utilizing three step drops, quick passes and occasionally using his feet to pickup timely first downs. Westbrook had 203 total yards, with 131 coming on the ground on 33 carries, added with six receptions for 72 yards.
At one point, the Eagles were an incredible 13 of 14 on third down conversions ranging from the end of the first half into the fourth quarter. This allowed them to control the tempo of the game, the clock and kept the Giants offense off the field for most of the second half.
With the Cowboys late game loss to the Steelers, the Giants were able to clinch the NFC East, but the goals are much wider than that. At 11-2, they head to Texas Stadium on Sunday night for a big showdown with Dallas. The stakes cannot get any higher for “America’s Team” as a loss can virtually eliminate them from postseason contention.
For the Giants, a win would seal a first round bye and line up what is set to be a showdown for homefield advantage in the NFC in two weeks against the Carolina Panthers.
But for this week, it was a tough loss to take.
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