KICKED TO THE CURB
61-yarder at gun drops Giants into 0-3 abyss
PHILADELPHIA — At long last, a pulse, and a heartbeat and a parade of three Eli Manning touchdown passes in a span of 5 minutes, 27 seconds — two to Odell Beckham Jr. and one a rousing 77-yard catch and run, and run, and run by Sterling Shepard. For all their shameful offense and leaky defense, the Giants had a lead, and, perhaps, a comeback victory to finally jumpstart their stalling season.
Ahead 21-14 on a hot Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, the Giants had 7 minutes, 12 seconds to burn off the clock to escape the ranks of the winless. That time turned into a dagger, sticking, poking, prodding the Giants, separating them from what they needed, most likely inflicting a lethal puncture, turning a season of promise into a season of despair.
“The first win keeps getting delayed,’’ Ben McAdoo said. “We are irritable and we need to find a way to win a game.’’
Finding a way has proven to be impossible and this latest setback came with a twist. It was on defense where the Giants faltered and floundered, blowing two fourth-quarter leads and watching in horror as Jake Elliott, a 22-year old rookie, drilled a 61-yard field goal as time expired to give the Eagles a 27-24 victory and send the Giants tumbling deeper into the abyss.
“This one stings, obviously because we did fight back,’’ Manning said.
“Offense played very good at the end of the game, defense we got to step it up and get off the field,’’ safety Landon Collins said. “From this point on, we got to look ourselves in the mirror and see what the problem is.’’
It had better be a large, large mirror, as blame can be spread throughout the roster. Down the stretch, it was the failure to get Carson Wentz and the Eagles off the field. Shepard’s bolt from the blue put the Giants ahead, but the lead lasted only 92 seconds, as a 36-yard pass interference penalty on Eli Apple — he had a rough game — set up Corey Clement’s 15-yard touchdown run to make it 21-21. It was the continuation of a theme: The supposedly formidable Giants run defense was gashed for 193 rushing yards by a team that came in averaging 82.5 yards per game on the ground.
Back came the Giants. Malcolm Jenkins nearly decapitated Beckham on a 28-yard pass interference penalty but a first down to the Eagles 11-yard line was wiped out by a rare delay-of-game penalty on right guard John Jerry for not allowing an Eagles player to get off the field. The Giants settled for Aldrick Rosas’ 41-yard field goal to regain the lead, 24-21, with 3:08 remaining.
Once again, the Giants’ defense caved in, unable to contain Wendell Smallwood, who accounted for 38 yards on two runs and a reception, and Elliott’s 46-yard field goal with 51 seconds left made it 24-24.
Incredibly, the Giants could not even get the game into overtime. An illegal shift penalty and holding penalty on Ereck Flowers messed up the possession and the Giants actually had to punt the ball back to the Eagles. Brad Wing’s kick was a 28-yard disaster out of bounds on the Eagles 38-yard line. On the fateful final play, Wentz targeted Alshon Jeffery, Apple thought he had an interception until he was knocked away in a collision with Janoris Jenkins as Jeffery made the 19-yard grab and got out of bounds on the Giants’ 43 with one second to go.
“I think I could have attacked the ball a little bit better,’’ Apple said. “I knew that was coming in hot and I was just thinking ‘pick, pick,’ that’s all I was thinking.’’
Elliott’s kick — the longest game-winner in Eagles history — sent the Giants home losers, again.
“It’s tough to take that loss,’’ Manning said.
The future is bleak. Since 2002, when the NFL went to its current eight-division format, no team that started the season 0-3 has made it into the playoffs.
“Well, playoffs are not in my thoughts at all right now,’’ linebacker Jonathan Casillas said. “It’s going to find that first win. Playoffs is a second thought, third thought.’’
Before the crushing end, the Giants trailed 14-0 in the fourth quarter and were on their way to getting embarrassed, as Eagles coach Doug Pederson went for three fourth downs, wholly unafraid of the Giants’ pathetic offense, which had scored 13 points in the first 11 quarters of the season.
Beckham’s 10-yard scoring catch gave the Giants their first points and Beckham celebrated by going down on all-fours and lifting his right leg as a dog would while urinating, a stunt that got him a 15-yard penalty. You cannot make it up.
In the end, it was the Giants who felt urinated on.
“I don’t know what’s missing, man,’’ Jason Pierre-Paul said. “Go ask Jerry Reese or somebody, I’m not a general manager, you know what I’m saying? We’re three games in and we lost all three of ’em. From here on out, what we gonna do?’’