Giants Blow 21 Point Fourth Quarter Lead

The largest crowd ever (81,223) filled the New Meadowlands Stadium for the showdown for first place in the NFC East. It will probably be a game they will forever wish they hadn’t attended. The Giants dominated the Eagles, controlling Michael Vick in the first half, leading 24-3 going into the locker room. They extended the lead to 31-10 with 8:17 left to play. It’s really hard to explain how things could unravel so quickly and a three touchdown lead was erased. Michael Vick became Superman again in the fourth quarter, leading the Eagles to 28 unanswered points. With the score tied at 31 and 14 seconds remaining in the game, it seemed we were headed for overtime. The Giants failed to execute a basic play- punt the ball out of bounds and away from the dangerous DeSean Jackson. This inexcusable breakdown ended with Jackson’s 65-yard touchdown return as time expired for a 38-31 Giants loss. The punt was a terrible Matt Dodge line-drive on a bounce, almost directly at Jackson, after he was told to punt the ball away from him out of bounds. It was one of many mistakes by the rookie Dodge this year, this being the most costly in a big game situation. For Giants fans, this brought back memories of “The Fumble” by Joe Pisarcik, the turnover that allowed another group of Eagles to steal a last second win in 1978 when all the Giants had to do was take a knee. Fault should not completely fall on Dodge. The Giants defense, which had dominated in the first half, holding the Eagles’ top ranked offense to 74 yards, completely broke down in the final minutes. Although it’s not uncommon for Vick to dominate teams with his arm and legs, there is just no excuse for allowing a 31-10 to escape with eight minutes to go. Blame should also go to the Giants coaching staff which allowed the Eagles to execute and recover an onside kick without one Giant lined up properly to contest it, without having one of their hands players lined up for an onside kick. They had even discussed the possibility of an onside kick, but after the game Coach Coughlin said he just didn’t expect that play with eight minutes to go. Big mistake.

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The Giants had just come off two wins with a dominating running game. So it was expected they would look to continue this trend and take time off the clock and keep Vick on the sidelines. Center Shaun O’Hara was inserted into the starting lineup after missing several weeks with an injury. This moved Rich Seubert back to guard from center, where he had been filling in for O’Hara. With Seubert at center, they had just rushed for 200 yards against a much tougher Vikings defense. From the start of this game, O’Hara looked rusty and was getting beat up front. The Giants vaunted running game never got going. Maybe the Giants should have stayed with what was working. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

Vick finished with 130 yards rushing on 10 carries and a touchdown. He threw for 3 touchdowns, one interception and 242 yards in the air. Eli Manning completed 23 of 39 for 289 and tied a career best with 4 touchdowns. He had one interception for his league leading twentieth pick. Mario Manningham, who hadn’t practiced all week, stepped up big with the season ending loss of Steve Smith. Manningham had 8 catches for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns, although he had a costly fumble that led to an Eagles score.

A very costly loss for the Giants. The eagles, now 10-4 have complete control over the division and the Giants scrambling to secure a wild card berth. All is not lost though. If the Packers lose to the Patriots Sunday night, the Giants can clinch a wild card with a victory next Sunday in Green Bay. Maybe the Giants will get another shot in the playoffs to end the Eagles six game winning streak against them. Time will tell.

By: Mitchell D. Schlau
ProFootball-fans.com New York Giants Correspondent