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| E-GIANTS AFTER
THE DISASTER IN PHILLY: By Aaron Klein Forget about the Philadelphia Eagles having the New York Giants' number. Think of it this way: The Giants just seem to leave it all in the locker room when they play the Eagles. They just sputter, fizzle, blow big plays, let the Eagles have their way at all the wrong times and, in the end, give the Eagles the number to call if they want to win. We can't say that the Eagles are a better team just yet, but they certainly rise to the occasion when the play the Giants who, conversely, stumble instead. Regardless, here are some good, bad and ugly things we saw Sunday night in the 19-17 loss to Philadelphia. THE GOOD Steve Weatherford: As good as he was in the Super Bowl, he was just that good Sunday night. He averaged 44.4 yards per punt on five attempts, with two landing inside the 20 and one that he boomed 60 yards to keep the pressure on the Birds. His directional kicking resulted in just one return for three yards. Weatherford kept the Giants alive as much as anyone else on the field. David Wilson’s kick returns: Right, while the rookie isn’t making much happen on regular offense, he exploded on kick returns, giving the Giants a fighting chance at every turn. Now, offense and special teams are not the same, and one reason Wilson hasn't had many snaps is as much about pass protection as it is about his butterfingers. To be fair, that shovel play was a little bizarre, and to put it on him to make that play is maybe a little unfair. He'll get his chances. Meanwhile, Wilson has become a threat on kick returns. A major threat who was just a shoelace tackle away from breaking one all the way against the Eagles. For the record, he had six returns for just over 36 yards per attempt, including a 63-yarder. Most of Eli Manning’s drives: He wasn’t stellar or perfect in any way, but when the pressure was on, Manning drove the team downfield with some perfect passes, especially to Victor Cruz. That the offense fizzled wasn't always his fault, but he executed the plays that the coaches dialed up and moved the ball downfield more often than not. Right, you’re thinking about the final drive ... we’ll get to that. Fourth quarter goal line stand: As the Eagles threatened to score late in the game to make it 23-17, the defense stepped up and held, forcing the field goal instead and giving Manning a fighting chance with 1:43 to go on the Giants' 35-yard line. In this case, the defense did its job very well. In fairness, the defense allowed big runs by LeSean McCoy and Michael Vick that gave the Eagles scoring position on that drive, but the unit tightened up when it counted. In hindsight, maybe the Giants should have just let the Eagles score on second down from the 8 ... Eli would have had twice as much time, down by six with one timeout. Domenik Hixon: You have to be pleased with a guy who missed the better part of two seasons stepping up into the X-receiver spot and making the tough catches to lead both teams in receiving yards with 114 on six catches. He and Cruz made a nice tandem. In fact, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Giants sit Hakeem Nicks (knee, foot) next Sunday against a relatively benign 0-4 Cleveland team in order to save him for the trip to San Francisco the following week. Will Beatty and Sean Locklear: Yes, Beatty and Locklear. While Manning wasn't sacked, he was hurried and hit too often. However, that pressure didn't come from the defensive ends, Trent Cole and Jason Babin, all that much when Beatty and Locklear had them. It came from the interior and the linebackers instead -- kudos to Beatty who has squelched all the negative talk since he came back two weeks ago. THE BAD Lack of pressure on Michael Vick, despite two sacks: The idea, of course, was to force Vick to throw the ball, to sit in the pocket. That didn't work out too well. The pressure the Giants failed to inflict wasn't just supposed to come from the front-seven. The secondary is also expected to pressure the quarterback, but allowing DeSean Jackson six catches, 99 yards and a touchdown, and an additional four catches and 47 yards for tight end Brent Celek that included a 27-yard long, along with three more receptions for running back LeSean McCoy ... well, that’s not pressure. On top of that, the defensive front wasn't able to knock Vick around like Arizona did a week before and, somehow, the Eagles made Jason Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck all but disappear on passing downs while seemingly making mince meat out of Osi Umenyiora. Inexplicable weakness against LeSean McCoy’s cutback runs: The Giants worked on this all week with Wilson playing McCoy's role on the scout team offense. They worked on it and they played with options and knew it was coming, but McCoy was still able to do what he does best: cut back and change direction. The Giants play Philadelphia in Week 17. Let's hope they figure this out by then. Horrific third-down conversion percentage: It says here that 20 percent is not going to get it done. There’s not much else to say here, other than that this issue has been with the team for several seasons and remains the most erratic and inconsistent phase of the offense. Is it the fault of offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride? Is it an execution issue? Yes and yes. No sacks allowed, but interior pass protection wasn’t great: While Beatty and Locklear performed well enough, the interior linemen, along with the overall blocking schemes that included backs and tight ends, was a weak point of the offensive performance. Sure, Manning wasn't sacked, but he was hit too often and rushed several times, enough so that he struggled at times to get into a flow. The way the blocking went, one must wonder where David Diehl plays when he is healthy again. One option that must be discussed is the possibility of moving left guard Kevin Boothe to center, Diehl to left guard and center David Baas to a backup role. Whatever is going on with him -- bruised hand, lousy snaps, lack of power and surge -- it must be addressed and fixed. Those two poor snaps could have been disastrous if Manning didn't recover like the savvy pro he is. Secondary breakdowns: Those zones got loose and the man-to-man was too soft, as though the defensive backs didn’t trust themselves and were trying to avoid giving up the big play, which they did anyway. Prince Amukamara had a decent performance and belongs in the Good category, while cornerback Corey Webster a poor night. A better quarterback than Vick could have sliced the Giants' secondary up like a cheesecake. Fortunately, there were overthrown balls and a few drops to hold back the scoring. Inability to run the ball: So they get Ahmad Bradshaw back and Andre Brown is hot, yet the team only put up 58 yards on 19 attempts. In fact, only three players took handoffs, with Bradshaw getting the bulk and fullback Henry Hynoski only getting a single carry. Fine, that shovel pass to Wilson didn’t work, but he might have been able to add a spark if given the chance. Another question: Why does Bradshaw seemingly run away from the blocking lanes and freelance to the outside? That needs fixing and it’s on the coaches. THE UGLY Let’s do it -- The Final Drive: Well, the drive itself was outstanding, but the offensive stopped short. Maybe the coaches were over-thinking the play calling. Maybe they have come to expect that the big and bold passes from Manning will always work out. Maybe Manning himself has so much of that thing, the belief that he can always make a play ... whatever it was, nothing worked. Yes, the draw was lousy but it should have worked. The rest of the receivers were covered, so getting it out to the 6- 6 Ramses Barden might have been the best choice at the time. Yes, they could have dialed up a seemingly easy seven-yard slant. Instead, the clock got away from them and the drive stalled at the 36-yard line. The coaches knew that kicker Lawrence Tynes' career long was 53 yards and this was 54, but that 53-yarder came in 2010 and he's just over 50 percent on kicks longer than 50 yards (like most NFL kickers). Blame Tynes for falling short, but blame the offense and the staff for putting him in that position. Maybe we should look at wide receiver Barden as a hero instead of a goat in this case. The pass was lousy, which Manning has confirmed, and Barden was simply trying to prevent an interception by giving his team another shot instead of allowing a pick to ice the game for the Eagles. Have
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