The Giants’ gut-wrenching loss to the Eagles this past Sunday in Philadelphia proved to be at once encouraging and disheartening for a team whose Super Bowl aspirations are rapidly dissipating. The Giants reached the 20-point mark for the first time in their past eight games, but they fell short of getting a win, losing 27-24 on a 61-yard field goal by the Eagles’ 22-year-old rookie placekicker Jake Elliot. The crushing defeat left the Giants 0-3 with a road game against the 1-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Giants were on the verge of going nine games scoring under 20 points before posting three touchdowns in a span of five minutes and 21 seconds in the fourth quarter. They took a 24-21 lead on a 41-yard field goal by Aldrick Rosas with 3:08 left in the fourth quarter before Elliot tied the score 24-24 on a 46-yard field goal with 51 seconds remaining.
The Eagles regained possession of the ball after the Giants failed to make a first down and move into range for their own go-ahead field goal attempt followed by a horrible 28-yard shank punt by Brad Wing. The result was, two plays later, a 19-yard pass from Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz to wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey to set up Elliot’s game-winner, the longest field goal in Eagles history.
“The game continues to teach us tough lessons we have to learn from,” said Giants coach Ben McAdoo. “And learn from in a hurry and fix.”
The Giants’ unexpected late game scoring binge was partly overshadowed by wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.’s 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the fourth quarter after catching a touchdown pass. The exceptionally gifted Beckham celebrated by mimicking a dog urinating.
The Giants’ point total also masked the continuing struggles of the team’s putrid rushing attack, which only manufactured while the Eagles ran for 193.
“We put enough points on the board, I felt, to win today,” said McAdoo. “We fell just short. We had a chance to score more and we didn’t handle the ball well enough to do so. So we left some points out there on the field. We need to go back to work and come up with some more points next week.”
Either that or face the possibility of going 0-4 and seeing their playoff hopes all but officially ended.
