Not really sure what it is about the city of Philadelphia that makes it so difficult for the Giants to win there, but they rarely ever seem to do it, these days.
Apparently, they cannot even do it when they enter a game red hot while the Eagles looked ice cold, like both teams did for last night's game.
Nope, it hardly mattered that the G-Men had won eight of their previous nine games, and that Philly had won only two games total since starting the season off 3-0 back in September. Once these teams took the field last night, it was Philly that dictated play and found a way to win.
Maybe it is those black uniforms that the Eagles always wear whenever they play the Giants in the City of Brotherly Love. I honestly cannot remember the Giants ever beating them when Philly wears those black uniforms.
For their part, the Giants wore throwback uniforms in honor of the New York Giants teams of the 1980's and 1990's - the team that won both Super Bowl XXI and Super Bowl XXV. Their were slight differences - particularly the helmets, which remained the color that they are now, and not the very dark, navy blue that sometimes looked almost black back then. Also, the Giants traditionally had blue on the top of heir socks, Still, it was refreshing to see those old uniforms put back into use for the first time since the 1999 season, before the Giants changed their uniforms to something very similar to what they have now.
In any case, the Eagles won again, and New York wasted an opportunity to finally clinch a playoff spot. Also, the loss by the Giants assured that the Dallas Cowboys clinched the NFC East title, as well as home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Costly missed opportunity for the G-Men.
New York had some opportunities down the stretch, and their defense, which has been stellar all season, kept them in this game, as well.
However, in the end, too many mistakes did the Giants in. Eli Manning attempted a career record 63 pass attempts, and completed 38 of them for 356 yards and one touchdown. However, he also threw three very costly picks that helped do the Giants in.
Most likely, the Giants will qualify for the playoffs, although they seem intent on doing it the hard way. It will not be easy for them to win at Washington next week, either, and their offense has been quite mediocre and limited in production for the past three weeks, failing to reach 20 points for four consecutive weekends now. They are one of four teams that has failed to put up 30 points in a single game thus far. The other teams that have not managed to score 30 points in any games this year are the Chicago Bears, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Cleveland Browns - the three losingest teams in the league this season, with a total of four wins and 38 losses this season. Methinks the Giants will have to do better to have a chance at doing more than qualify for the playoffs, and then seeing a quick exit. This team will need to score some points against elite teams come January, always assuming that they will still be playing in January. Their defense is awesome, ranking third, but the offense has proven to be a liability, even with a two-time Super Bowl MVP at the helm. They should be better.
A missed opportunity for sure, and the Giants now probably need to route for the Dallas Cowboys to beat the Detroit Lions in the next game, as a loss by the Lions would likely allow the Giants to just about clinch a playoff berth finally, once and for all.
We shall see.
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