Special Teams Miscues Costs Giants Against Eagles, 34-29

The New York Giants entered Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles as nine-point underdogs at home.

There was nothing to suggest the Giants would be able to do anything against the Eagles’ second-ranked offense or fourth-ranked defense. After all, the Giants couldn’t beat them in Week 3 with a reasonably healthy roster. Conventional wisdom said Philadelphia in a blowout.

However, conventional wisdom flies out the window when it comes to games between division rivals. Teams are more focused for these games because of the familiarity (and animosity) between division foes. The Giants and Eagles have played against each other since 1933, a span of 172 games. That’s enough familiarity (and animosity) to fill MetLife Stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, Giants Stadium, and Veterans Stadium.

The Giants played perhaps their best game of the season but it still wasn’t enough for the W as Philadelphia held off the Giants 34-29.

The Giants came out firing on all cylinders, scoring on three touchdowns on their first three possessions. Eli Manning threw for 252 yards in the first half, the most yards he’s thrown for in a first half in his career. He finished with 434 yards, the fourth highest total of his career.

You would think the Giants would’ve won the day with Manning’s eighth 400+ yards performance and it might be accurate. The Giants were 4-4 in games where Manning threw for a least 400 yards entering Sunday. Now, the Giants are 4-5 in such games because they found a new way to screw everything up.

Nick Foles, in his first game as the Eagles’ starter after Carson Wentz went down with a torn ACL, looked like Randall Cunningham out there. He marched the Eagles offense up and down the field with relative ease. In spite of Foles’ performance, the Giants still had a chance to win but they blew it.

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The Giants’ fate was sealed, believe it or not, after scoring their first touchdown on an opening drive all season. Philadelphia blocked the point after attempt. They also blocked a punt that led a touchdown and a field goal. Special teams was anything but special against the Eagles.

The Giants left four points on the field. Instead of needing a field goal to win on the game’s final drive, they needed a touchdown which they didn’t get.

The Giants special teams has stunk all season long. It hasn’t been talked about as much because the ineptitude on offense and defense. On Sunday, with the offense playing one of their better games this season and the defense making stops when they needed to, the special teams incompetence was on full display.

It seems like a waste of one of the Giants’ best offensive outputs of the season. They gained 299 yards in the first half, more than the total offensive output of their last six games. The 29 points they scored is the most since Jan. 3, 2016, a 35-30 loss to the Eagles.

The Giants fall to 2-12, their first 12-loss season since 1974. Back then, they only played 14 games. These Giants still have two more games to go, two more chances to screw everything up. This season has been such a dumpster fire that even they play well, eventually whatever momentum they gain will be undone by their own incompetence. A phrase usually applied to their stadium mates seems appropriate now: Just End The Season.

– Curtis Rawls is a Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage and covers the NFL and the New York Giants. Please like and follow on Facebook and Twitter. Curtis can be followed on Twitter @CuRawls203.