PHILADELPHIA — Here, Eli Manning and the Giants said to the Eagles: “Take the game, it’s yours.”
Bad Comedian Eli Manning and a comedy of errors doomed the Giants, 27-7 losers, Monday night at the Linc.
It had looked so easy at the start. Odell Beckham Jr. and his hamstring were playing, and Beckham caught a 13-yard touchdown pass on the first drive, and Manning completed his first 10 passes, and the Giants were going to separate themselves from the NFC East pack, perch themselves comfortably at the top.
As long as Manning could keep playing at a high level, Sam Bradford couldn’t possibly keep up with him, not even against the depleted Giants’ defense.
“We were rolling,” Larry Donnell said.
And suddenly, without warning, they stopped rolling.
These Giants need Manning to carry them, and when he does not, they are just another 3-3 mediocrity.
Manning hand-delivered one touchdown to the Eagles with a pick-six and brainless plays from Damontre Moore and Nikita Whitlock opened the floodgates to two other Eagles touchdowns.
On a night when Manning threw two interceptions, equaling his season total, these Giants have no chance. Not even against Sad Sam Bradford (three interceptions).
It was Manning who ignited this comedy of errors, but to be fair, it was Donnell who allowed DeMeco Ryans to wrestle the ball away from him at the Philly 22 at a time when the Giants were looking to build on their 7-0 lead.
Manning: “I got to probably make a little better throw, get it up high.”
Donnell: “We kind of met at the same time. He was going for it, I was going for it and he just made a great play.”
The next gift came from Moore, who mindlessly decided to piledrive Bradford into the ground following a third-and-7 incompletion, and soon Bradford was connecting with Riley Cooper on a 32-yard touchdown past Jayron Hosley and Brandon Meriweather. Giants 7, Eagles 7.
“Honestly, I think it was just part of me just having poor football I.Q. and not aware of the rules of dumping him,” Moore said. “There’s no excuse.”
Then, fourth-and-1 at the Philly 40 following a questionable spot on third-and-1, Rashad Jennings lost 2 yards on a slow-developing run around left end, and the faithful were howling.
“A little surprised we didn’t get the first down on the play before,” Manning said.
Then came the killer, and this one was on Manning.
He looked left for Dwayne Harris as Rueben Randle stumbled inside and found Nolan Carroll instead.
“Terrible read by me,” Manning said. “I thought they were a little two-man, they were in zone. Bad decision by me to make that throw. I should have gone to my next guy in the progression.”
Eagles 14, Giants 7.
The next gift came from Jennings, stripped from behind by Malcolm Jenkins at the end of a 6-yard screen, fumble recovered at the Philly 38 by Ryans.
Manning spent the rest of the game under siege by Eagle predators, and twice was flagged for intentional grounding.
The next gift came from Whitlock, who gave the Eagles a first down on a drive that culminated in a 12-yard DeMarco Murray TD around Meriweather in the third quarter.
“I just put my hand up, and I actually tried to stop,” Whitlock said, “and I got some kinda pressure on my back. I got pushed into him. I tried with all my might to stop, but when you get pushed in the back it’s hard.”
Eagles 24, Giants 7.
“I feel like that might have been the play that changed momentum, so a little down on myself right now,” Whitlock said.
After his 10-for-10 start, Manning was 8-for-21 with his two picks at the start of the fourth quarter.
“They were taking away our short stuff,” Manning said.
Beckham had seven receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown at intermission, and finished with seven catches, including the touchdown.
“They were doubling him a good bit,” Manning said.
