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Giants fall to Eagles, 23-11
Giants 2008 season ends in upsetting fashion
By Michael Eisen, Giants.com

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JANUARY 11, 2009

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - The Giants picked a bad day to have a bad day and the result is that their championship reign has come to an end.

Unable to take advantage of their home field and crowd, the Giants fell to the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-11, in an NFC Divisional Playoff Game in Giants Stadium.

"It's pretty much the worst feeling in the world," center Shaun O'Hara said. "You almost wonder if it's better to not make the playoffs than to exit like we did today."

"I honestly thought that this year we would be the...last year the road warriors, this year the warriors at home, and it just didn't come to pass," said Coach Tom Coughlin, whose team won four games away from home on the way to victory in Super Bowl XLII.

It didn't come to pass for numerous reasons, the most obvious being the Giants failed to score a touchdown. They advanced as far as Philadelphia's 17-yard line three times - and had a first down on the 11 on their initial possession - but settled for field goals each time. The Giants converted only three of 13 third down opportunities. Their last five possessions ended, in order, with a missed field goal, twice on downs, an interception and a fumble.

"I would say missed opportunities," quarterback Eli Manning said when asked to summarize the day's events. "We did some good things; we drove the ball pretty well (the Giants outgained Philly, 307-276, including 138-59 on the ground). We got into their territory, we got into their red zone a number of times. We didn't play our best when we got into the red zone. We didn't convert any of those times down there into touchdowns. We settled for five field goals, and made three of them. That is not going to win games in the playoffs. You have to get touchdowns when you get down there. When we needed to get something done, when we needed to get a spark and make a big play, that is when we didn't do our best."

"It would have never have crossed anybody's mind in the locker room to go out and play like that on offense," said running back Brandon Jacobs (92 yards on 19 carries). "(We) didn't execute. I thought our defense played very good football. They barely had any yards and I don't think us as an offense held up our end of the stick. We got down there a few times and kicking field goals is just not good enough to beat a team like that."

The Giants, who finished 12-5, were eliminated by their NFC East rivals for the second time in three seasons. Philadelphia, 11-6-1, became the first team to beat the Giants twice in Giants Stadium in the same season. The Eagles won a regular season game here on Dec. 7. The Giants became the first No. 1 seed in the NFC to lose to a sixth seed in 10 such meetings. The Giants finish with four losses in their last five games.

"No excuses. We had an opportunity to come out and play a great game and we didn't capitalize on it," defensive end Justin Tuck said. "Give their guys credit - they came in here and beat us. As tough as that is to swallow, that's exactly what happened."

"It's tough," guard Rich Seubert said. "You can't do it every year. We had it in the palm of our hands this year playing at home, but we let the fans down and we let ourselves down."

The Giants scored on John Carney field goals of 22, 34 and 36 yards and a safety when Donovan McNabb was penalized for intentional grounding in the end zone. Carney also missed field goal attempts of 46 and 47 yards. The Giants failed to score a touchdown for the second time in their last four games; they didn't reach the end zone at Dallas on Dec. 14. Manning threw two interceptions and wide receiver Steve Smith lost a fumble.

"We played a lot of football today that I don't think we would describe as Giants football," O'Hara said. "We pride ourselves on our winning formula, which is no turnovers and no penalties and to not convert on opportunities - there are a lot of things out there you can look at. We should have scored touchdowns early on in this game; it would have been a different game."

Philadelphia got a one-yard touchdown run from McNabb, a one-yard scoring pass to tight end Brent Celek, and David Akers field goals of 25, 35 yards and 20 yards. Brian Westbrook was held to 36 rushing yards and 10 receiving yards (on two catches). The Giants were unable to sack McNabb for the third time this season.

The game started well for the Giants, but the failure to capitalize on opportunities surfaced immediately.

Ahmad Bradshaw's 65-yard return on the opening kickoff enabled the Giants to begin the game's first offensive possession at the Eagles' 35-yard line. But on the first snap from scrimmage, Manning failed to hook up with Steve Smith, who was open down the field.

"Steve was kind of expecting it to be deeper down the field on the go route," Manning said. "I didn't want to lead him into the safety, I was going to throw it hard on a line drive. I just think it was a slight miscommunication. The wind hit it a little but still it should have been a completion. That could have been a big play right there, possible touchdown on that series. We got the first down, and kept moving the ball, but the first play of the game we could have jumped out and got some momentum and some points. Just another example of a missed opportunity."

But the Giants still had a chance to score a touchdown. Jacobs' three-yard-run on fourth-and-two kept the drive alive and Manning's 13-yard pass to Darcy Johnson gave the Giants a first down at the Philly 11. But a third-down pass to Derrick Ward gained five yards when the Giants needed eight and Carney came on to kick a 22-yard field goal for the game's first points.

The Giants forced an Eagles punt and began the next series on their own 13-yard line. But on the first play, Manning's overthrown pass for Domenik Hixon flew right to cornerback Asante Samuel, who returned it 25 yards to the Giants' two. Three plays and a Giants holding penalty later, McNabb stuck the ball over the goal line on a quarterback sneak for the touchdown that gave Philadelphia a 7-3 lead.

"I just threw it high," Manning said of Samuel's pick. "I rolled out right and had Hixon open over the middle. The ball sailed on me and I threw it high. You can't throw high over the middle. There's a good chance it's going to get intercepted."

McNabb's touchdown was the first of five lead changes.

The Giants closed to within 7-5 on a safety when McNabb was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone with 12:34 remaining in the second quarter. On second-and-nine from the six, McNabb was pursued in the end zone by Tuck and Fred Robbins. Feeling the heat, he flipped the ball to the right side, but no one in an Eagles uniform was in the area. Referee Mike Carey flagged McNabb for grounding and the Giants picked up two points.

It was just the second safety in the Giants' 44-game postseason history. The other was George Martin's sack of Denver's John Elway in Super Bowl XXI.

After the free kick, the Giants drove from their own 32 to the Philadelphia 28, but Carney's 46-yard field goal was wide right.

On the ensuing Eagles possession, Kevin Dockery intercepted a McNabb pass intended for DeSean Jackson. The Giants drove from their own 20 to the Philadelphia 21-yard line. But Manning's pass to Ward on third-and-five gained...four yards. Carney then kicked a 34-yard field goal to give the Giants an 8-7 lead with 1:33 remaining in the second quarter.

But the slim advantage did not hold until halftime. Philadelphia used the last 1:33 of the second quarter to drive 68 yards, a possession that ended with Akers' 25-yard field goal and 10-8 lead that Philly took into the locker room.

The Eagles had to convert only one third down on the series, which included McNabb passes of 14 and nine yards to Jackson and seven yards to Brian Westbrook, as well as the quarterback's nine-yard scramble.

The Eagles got the ball - but the Giants got a break - at the start of the third quarter.

On the second play of the second half, Robbins intercepted a McNabb pass for Kevin Curtis that was tipped by Chase Blackburn. Robbins returned the ball 17 yards to the Eagles' 33-yard line. Jacobs picked up 16 yards on a pair of runs, setting up a second-and-five at the 17.

But the Giants, as they had previously, couldn't get the ball into the end zone from in close. Manning's second-down pass was dropped by Ward and his third-down throw to a closely-covered Kevin Boss was incomplete. Carney then kicked a 36-yard field goal for the Giants' third lead of the game, at 11-10.

Akers' second field goal gave Philadelphia its third lead of the game at 13-10 with 7:45 remaining in the third quarter. Before the kick, the Eagles marched 58 yards in 11 plays, the most critical being successful conversions on a third-and-20 and a third-and-10.

The first of those plays began at the Giants' 15-yard line. McNabb sidestepped onrushing ends Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka and threw to Jason Avant for a 21-yard gain.

"That is a huge play," Coughlin said. "The quarterback was in trouble, he was able to avoid and get out of trouble, he was able to find a receiver who, to his credit, just barely made the first down, but he made the first down."

Later in the drive, the Eagles faced a third-and-10 from the Giants' 41. McNabb flipped a short pass to Correll Buckhalter, who turned it into a 19-yard gain to the 22. Philadelphia picked up five more yards before Akers kicked the field goal that put the Eagles ahead for good.

On the next possession, Manning's 34-yard pass to Hixon set up Carney's 47-yard field goal attempt, which was wide left. Carney, who missed only one field goal all season that wasn't blocked, misfired on two in the same game for the first time since Oct. 9, 2005, when he played for New Orleans at Green Bay.

"The first miss I didn't play the wind and the second field goal I placed exactly where I wanted to but it just stayed there," Carney said. "You try your best to predict the winds and hope that most of the time you predict them right, but today I was a victim of it."

The game continued to deteriorate for the Giants after Carney's second miss. The Eagles immediately drove 63 yards, capped by McNabb's one-yard pass to Celek on the first play of the fourth quarter, which increased Philly's lead to 20-11.

On the Giants' next possession, they thought they had a first down on a run by Ward. But the officials spotted the ball just short. Coughlin challenged the spot, but referee Mike Carey upheld the call after review. Manning then got stuffed on fourth-and-inches.

The Eagles punted, but the Giants' drive ended when Jacobs was stopped short on fourth-and-two. Manning's interception and Smith's fumble ended the Giants' last two opportunities with the ball. Now the Giants go home and the Eagles advance to next week's NFC Championship Game in Arizona.

"This is the most disappointing feeling in sports," Mathias Kiwanuka said. "Obviously, a majority of the teams are going to go through this, but when it is your turn it really hurts. We had some unbelievable talent. We have some great guys and guys who played their butts off all season. To go out like this hurts."