Ultimate bad ending: Giants set new low for N.Y. sports teams
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Ultimate bad ending: Giants set new low for N.Y. sports teams
By Andrew Mills, The Newark Star-Ledger via US Presswire
Eli Manning and the Giants are heading home after being upset in their first playoff game. "I think 'shock' would be an understatement," center Shaun O'Hara said of the team's mood.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — There have been a lot of bad endings for New York sports teams recently, a lot of endings that make you want to call in sick for a few days at work. The Yankees were a joke by August. The Mets choked it away again in September. Then came the Jets in December with a collapse that somehow made the Mets look like amateurs.
This ending still might be the worst. The Giants were supposed to be better than this, supposed to be the kind of team that, even if they lost, didn't make you walk away feeling like you never really had a chance. Late Sunday afternoon when it was over, Tom Coughlin said there was "remorse" in the locker room for opportunities missed. That word was appropriate.
"Regret" would have been, too.
"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 go out the way we did today."
It is better. To play the way the Giants did in Sunday's 23-11 loss to the Eagles is absolutely a worse fate than never making the playoffs at all.
Even more if you're the defending Super Bowl champions. And the top seed in the NFC. And the team that everyone thought was the best in the entire league for most of the season.
It was all set up perfectly for the Giants: They had a first-round bye. They didn't have to go on the road until the Super Bowl. They even had the Panthers, who were the No. 2 seed right below them, upset by the Cardinals on Saturday night to make their path to Tampa a little bit easier.
And then they had this happen. The kind of day that teams like this aren't supposed to have.
"I think 'shock' would be an understatement," O'Hara said.
The most baffling part was that the Giants couldn't score. Here is what the offense, ranked third out of 32 teams in total points during the regular season, did with its 12 possessions Sunday: three field goals, two punts, two interceptions, two missed field goals, two times turning the ball over downs, one fumble.
The closest the Giants got to getting the ball in the end zone was when they forced Donovan McNabb into an intentional grounding penalty in his own end zone that led to a safety.
"It is disappointing," left guard Rich Seubert said, "and you can blame it all on the offense."
Not all of it. One side of the ball doesn't lose these kinds of games. The defense had, understandably, focused much of its attention on Brian Westbrook, the Eagles running back who darts like a rabbit from behind his linemen and showed in the wild-card game against the Vikings how the simplest screen pass can suddenly become a 71-yard score.
So the Giants stopped him. Westbrook finished the game with 36 yards rushing, his lowest since Nov. 9 when the Giants held him to 26. The Giants won that game. But Sunday, even with Westbrook being contained, the defense couldn't do enough. On third-and-20 for the Eagles early in the third quarter, the Giants watched as McNabb shook off Justin Tuck and completed a 21-yard pass Jason Avant. First down. "That's a huge play," Coughlin said.
Said Tuck, "That's one of those plays that kind of breaks your back."
There were a lot of those. And a year after everything went right for the Giants, this time nothing worked.
Coughlin activated two kickers for this game hoping that Lawrence Tynes could give the Giants better kickoff positioning; instead, near-perfect John Carney missed two field goals. Coughlin also shook up his standard running back rotation by using Derrick Ward earlier in the game than usual, but the Giants couldn't establish any kind of running game. There was also the risky replay challenge Coughlin used in the fourth quarter that failed, costing the Giants their second timeout.
And then there were the fourth downs. In the first quarter the Giants went for it on fourth down and made it, Brandon Jacobs banging through the line for three yards when the Giants needed two. Later in the game though, when the Giants were trailing and the season was slipping away, that desperation push wasn't there when they needed it.
With 12 minutes left, Eli Manning needed just a few inches for a first down and, after trying to squeeze his way through the legs of his linemen, he fell backwards for no gain.
Eagles ball.
Then, with about six minutes to go and the Giants on their last chance, Jacobs needed two yards once more and tried to slip off-tackle just like he'd done three hours earlier. He fell hard and close, and the referees waved their arms and called for a measurement. As players crowded around and coaches peered from the sideline, the referees stretched the chains.
Short again. Manning trudged to the sideline with a dazed look on his face, Coughlin dropped his eyes. Another bad ending. This one might have been the biggest letdown of them all.
By Andrew Mills, The Newark Star-Ledger via US Presswire
Eli Manning and the Giants are heading home after being upset in their first playoff game. "I think 'shock' would be an understatement," center Shaun O'Hara said of the team's mood.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — There have been a lot of bad endings for New York sports teams recently, a lot of endings that make you want to call in sick for a few days at work. The Yankees were a joke by August. The Mets choked it away again in September. Then came the Jets in December with a collapse that somehow made the Mets look like amateurs.
This ending still might be the worst. The Giants were supposed to be better than this, supposed to be the kind of team that, even if they lost, didn't make you walk away feeling like you never really had a chance. Late Sunday afternoon when it was over, Tom Coughlin said there was "remorse" in the locker room for opportunities missed. That word was appropriate.
"Regret" would have been, too.
"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 go out the way we did today."
It is better. To play the way the Giants did in Sunday's 23-11 loss to the Eagles is absolutely a worse fate than never making the playoffs at all.
Even more if you're the defending Super Bowl champions. And the top seed in the NFC. And the team that everyone thought was the best in the entire league for most of the season.
It was all set up perfectly for the Giants: They had a first-round bye. They didn't have to go on the road until the Super Bowl. They even had the Panthers, who were the No. 2 seed right below them, upset by the Cardinals on Saturday night to make their path to Tampa a little bit easier.
And then they had this happen. The kind of day that teams like this aren't supposed to have.
"I think 'shock' would be an understatement," O'Hara said.
The most baffling part was that the Giants couldn't score. Here is what the offense, ranked third out of 32 teams in total points during the regular season, did with its 12 possessions Sunday: three field goals, two punts, two interceptions, two missed field goals, two times turning the ball over downs, one fumble.
The closest the Giants got to getting the ball in the end zone was when they forced Donovan McNabb into an intentional grounding penalty in his own end zone that led to a safety.
"It is disappointing," left guard Rich Seubert said, "and you can blame it all on the offense."
Not all of it. One side of the ball doesn't lose these kinds of games. The defense had, understandably, focused much of its attention on Brian Westbrook, the Eagles running back who darts like a rabbit from behind his linemen and showed in the wild-card game against the Vikings how the simplest screen pass can suddenly become a 71-yard score.
So the Giants stopped him. Westbrook finished the game with 36 yards rushing, his lowest since Nov. 9 when the Giants held him to 26. The Giants won that game. But Sunday, even with Westbrook being contained, the defense couldn't do enough. On third-and-20 for the Eagles early in the third quarter, the Giants watched as McNabb shook off Justin Tuck and completed a 21-yard pass Jason Avant. First down. "That's a huge play," Coughlin said.
Said Tuck, "That's one of those plays that kind of breaks your back."
There were a lot of those. And a year after everything went right for the Giants, this time nothing worked.
Coughlin activated two kickers for this game hoping that Lawrence Tynes could give the Giants better kickoff positioning; instead, near-perfect John Carney missed two field goals. Coughlin also shook up his standard running back rotation by using Derrick Ward earlier in the game than usual, but the Giants couldn't establish any kind of running game. There was also the risky replay challenge Coughlin used in the fourth quarter that failed, costing the Giants their second timeout.
And then there were the fourth downs. In the first quarter the Giants went for it on fourth down and made it, Brandon Jacobs banging through the line for three yards when the Giants needed two. Later in the game though, when the Giants were trailing and the season was slipping away, that desperation push wasn't there when they needed it.
With 12 minutes left, Eli Manning needed just a few inches for a first down and, after trying to squeeze his way through the legs of his linemen, he fell backwards for no gain.
Eagles ball.
Then, with about six minutes to go and the Giants on their last chance, Jacobs needed two yards once more and tried to slip off-tackle just like he'd done three hours earlier. He fell hard and close, and the referees waved their arms and called for a measurement. As players crowded around and coaches peered from the sideline, the referees stretched the chains.
Short again. Manning trudged to the sideline with a dazed look on his face, Coughlin dropped his eyes. Another bad ending. This one might have been the biggest letdown of them all.
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Comments
I guess the answer in blowing in the wind.............................
Meanwhile the Philly era of dominance in sports seems to have arrived.
By Andrew Mills, The Newark Star-Ledger via US Presswire>>
You gotta be kidding me! Lower that the Mets choking again last year and the Jets utter collapse? Obviously written by an sports writer who is an over zealous Eagles fan.
"The answer was in the Patriots eyes. Gone were the swagger and c0ck sure smirks, replaced by downcast eyes and heads in hands. For his poise and leadership Eli Manning was named the game's MVP. The 2007 Giants were never perfect nor meant to be. They were fighters, scrappers....now they could be called something else, World Champions."
<< <i>
Meanwhile the Philly era of dominance in sports seems to have arrived. >>
Steve, you sniffing glue again?
1994 Pro Line Live
TheDallasCowboyBackfieldProject
<< <i><<Ultimate bad ending: Giants set new low for N.Y. sports teams
By Andrew Mills, The Newark Star-Ledger via US Presswire>>
You gotta be kidding me! Lower that the Mets choking again last year and the Jets utter collapse? Obviously written by an sports writer who is an over zealous Eagles fan.
<<< You gotta be kidding me! Lower that the Mets choking again this year and the Jets utter collapse? >>>
You're of course right - The Giants were a 4 point favorite but take away the "automatic" 3 points that the bookies normally give to a home team in football, and the Giants were only a 1 point favorite - Hardly a big upset (collapse) by any stretch of the imagination.
<< <i>
<< <i>
Meanwhile the Philly era of dominance in sports seems to have arrived. >>
Steve, you sniffing glue again? >>
How did ya know? - it's Green glue. LOL
Obviously the Eagles have a very good team and are peaking at the right time. My hat is off to them. And I don't buy the Plaxico blame crap either. Before he shot himself he wasn't playing that much anyways because of disciplinary suspensions and injury. I think Tuck playing hurt and Eli having a poor day were bigger factors. It just goes to show how hard it is to repeat as Super Bowl champions. Other sports have more than one game to make up for a bad day.
"The answer was in the Patriots eyes. Gone were the swagger and c0ck sure smirks, replaced by downcast eyes and heads in hands. For his poise and leadership Eli Manning was named the game's MVP. The 2007 Giants were never perfect nor meant to be. They were fighters, scrappers....now they could be called something else, World Champions."
<< <i><<You're of course right - The Giants were a 4 point favorite but take away the "automatic" 3 points that the bookies normally give to a home team in football, and the Giants were only a 1 point favorite - Hardly a big upset (colapse) by any stretch of the imagination.>>
Obviously the Eagles have a very good team and are peaking at the right time. My hat is off to them. And I don't buy the Plaxico blame crap either. Before he shot himself he wasn't playing that much anyways because of disciplinary suspensions and injury. I think Tuck playing hurt and Eli having a poor day were bigger factors. It just goes to show how hard it is to repeat as Super Bowl champions. Other sports have more than one game to make up for a bad day. >>
Eli for sure was the biggest factor in the loss - he missed a number of open receivers that could have made the difference in the game. Not that it was easy to throw on a day like that because it of course wasn't easy, but the fact is he missed the open receivers. Also some puzzling play calling by Coughlin - It's as though something wasn't working and Coughlin was determined to keep trying it until it did work - a play calling strategy for losing games in the NFL.
Bosox1976