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| E-GIANTS By
DAVE KLEIN The Giants didn't exactly earn any merit badges yesterday in their embarrassing 36-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Giants Stadium, but the quality of the NFC is such that even at their most incompetent, they didn't really hurt their chances of earning a playoff spot. They did, however, play themselves out of a chance to win a second straight NFC East championship. It's that simple. They cannot win the division, no way, no how, even in this most confusing of seasons. And now, in a position unfamiliar to most observers, they must win their final two games to get into the playoffs. And that's not entirely true, either. They can make it as a wild-card team if they split their final two games and finish 8-8 for the season. In fact, there is one scenario -- involving losses by other teams and a supply of voodoo dolls complete with long pins -- in which they can become a playoff team with a 7-9 record. And wouldn't that be just perfect? The way this team has played for most of the season might engender such foolishness. Yesterday was one of those days that give the Giants a bad name. They did almost everything right, except win; they did almost everything right except take advantage of the plethora of opportunities the equally bumbling Eagles continued to extend in the true spirit of holiday gift-giving. "We didn’t play well enough to win," said head coach Tom Coughlin in an amazing understatement. "We couldn't stop their running game, and I was surprised that they ran as well as they did." As well as being surprised, he should have been enraged at the defense. The Eagles gained 161 rushing yards and 382 total net yards. Whenever there was a crucial juncture, the Philadelphia offense managed to convert. "It's my fault," said middle linebacker Antonio Pierce in a commendable flurry of self-depredation, even if it wasn't true. "I'll take the blame. Any time a team gets more than 150 yards on the ground it's the middle linebacker's fault. We were in the game until the fourth quarter and I didn't play well enough then to help us win." Oh, please. Nobody wearing a Giant uniform played particularly well in the fourth quarter, which may become known as the fourth quarter follies. The Giants had the ball on the Eagles' seven-yard line on the final play of the third quarter. It was first down. Tiki Barber went wide right for no gain. Now the fourth quarter began. Tiki went up the middle for one. Quarterback Eli Manning rolled to his left, threw on the run for wide receiver Plaxico Burress and missed. So having started with a first and goal from the seven, the Giants now settled for a 24-yard Jay Feely field goal, one of three in the game without a miss. The scoring summary was enough to make a coach cry -- the Giants gained one yard in four plays in 1:11 on the clock before taking a 16-14 lead. Well, a lead is a lead is a lead. So they kicked off to Philadelphia's one-yard line, and Reno Mahe took it back 64 yards to the Giants' 35. Hey, fans? This one wasn't over yet. It took three plays. Running back Brian Westbrook (19 carries, 97 yards) slanted right for three. Quarterback Jeff Garcia (who needs Donovan McNabb anyway?) threw to tight end L.J. Smith for four and then, on third-and-three, he handed the ball to Westbrook. One of the Giant defensive players might have been in the area of left guard, but he wasn't immediately noticed. Westbrook, as if shot from a cannon, simply pranced through a hole big enough for a Hummer and didn't stop until he had a 28-yard touchdown. The Eagles, by the way, had a 21-16 lead. Now it was 1-2-3 and almost out, because a third down pass by Manning was incomplete but cornerback Sheldon Brown was guilty of defensive holding. That produced five yards and a first down, and on second and three he threw to reserve tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, who caught an eight-yard pass and then fumbled. Shiancoe, clearly on his farewell tour of the NFL, simply dropped the ball when hit by safety Brian Dawkins. The errant ball was recovered by cornerback Lito Sheppard at the 50. Now the Eagles felt guilty, or felt badly for the Giants, because on second-and-nine at the Giants' 36 Garcia was intercepted by free safety Will Demps. The thought that he was throwing to Demps was considered by many in the stadium, since the ball went directly into his gut (and how else would he have caught it?). Demps ran upfield for 29 yards, then lateraled to cornerback R.W. McQuarters, who ran 24 more. The Giants, with 9:02 remaining, had the ball on the Eagles' 35. And they did score, especially after Brown was guilty of pass interference on wide receiver Plaxico Burress in the end zone, setting up a first and goal from the one. Three plays later running back Brandon Jacobs (who had fumbled disastrously in the first half) pounded it in. The Giants tried a two-point play and it failed. But they did have a 22-21 lead. It was absolutely no trouble for the Eagles to slice upfield. It took eight plays to go the 80 yards and nary a third-down play was needed. Finally, from the Giants' 19, Garcia threw to wide receiver Reggie Brown, who left McQuarters wondering where he was, and it was 29-22 after a two-point conversion pass from Garcia to Smith. The clock showed 2:57 to play. When the clock showed 2:47 to play, another Eagle was in the end zone holding a ball in his hands. Huh? What happened? Well, Eli went back to pass. Brown, who had done everything wrong until then, rushed from his right corner position. Either Shockey missed him or forgot he was supposed to block him because he was untouched (as was Westbrook on that 28-yard touchdown) and he hit Manning hard enough to cause a lousy pass, a fluttering pigeon that landed in the arms of defensive end Trent Cole, who waltzed in with the second 19-yard Eagle touchdown in 10 seconds. And that, fellas, was that. The Giants can still make the playoffs -- but should they? How can it get much worse than this? Check
out Dave's website at E-GIANTS
where you can subscribe to his newsletters which
run much more frequently than what is available here. NEW - Send a request to davesklein@aol.com for a free week's worth of news!
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