EAST RUTHERFORD — The defending Super Bowl champions made the
New York Giants look like chumps.
The Giants had a chance to reclaim this season and show they were a far better team than the one that had lost four of its first five games, several in heartbreaking fashion.
Instead, they were embarrassed, 34-13, with a national television audience watching at home. There were boos from the MetLife Stadium crowd.
“I wasn’t expecting this at all,” Giants safety Landon Collins said. “Not good ball. Not good ball at all.”
The decision-making by the quarterback is a major problem.
It's holding this team back.
And if it's not decisions by Eli Manning, it's the play calling. But the New York Giants have done what they can to give a game they desperately needed to the
Eagles.
The defending Super Bowl champions have stepped on their throats and taken it.
“None of us did anything good enough to win tonight,” Giants coach Pat Shurmur said.
There will be constant debate over the offensive line, and the criticism is deserved. The performance was not good, especially from left tackle Nate Solder, who struggled mightily in the first half. But when plays are blocked up, Manning is not making them.
Hall of Famer turned FOX analyst Troy Aikman questioned during the television broadcast as to why Manning was playing safe. When he was taking chances, two risks stood out: a forced throw to Scott Simonson that resulted in a deflection and interception, and then another forced throw to Simonson at the goal line that fell incomplete.
The first half ended in a bit of apparent controversy for the Giants when replays showed Odell Beckham Jr. leaving the field before the second quarter had expired. There were two seconds remaining on the clock and the Giants attempted a pass before time ran out.
Beckham returned to the sideline when the second half began - the Giants started on defense — and he was on the field with the rest of the starting offense on the second possession of the third quarter — after the Eagles extended their lead to 31-6.
It's going to be talked about as the latest distraction involving Beckham, but no one should let that distract from the real problems affecting the Giants. They are now on a slow crawl to another top draft pick where they must answer their quarterback problem.