Monday Night Football Review – Giants Tease With Big Lead, But Blow It Late

New York Giants (2-10) 

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Philadelphia Eagles (5-7)

Philadelphia 23, N.Y. Giants 17

For whatever the reason, the NFL always thinks that it is a good idea to have the Giants play a nationally televised late season game in Philadelphia. When that happens, the Eagles always don their black jerseys and pants. They also almost always get their butts kicked, and hard, at that. It is frustrating, much like how they always seem to open their season at Dallas, and also almost always lose there, at least in recent seasons.  

Well, the Giants lost again in Philly last night on Monday Night Football, although there are some things that make this game a little different. First of all, the G-Men at least made a game of it. In fact, they held a 17-3 lead for much of it. But in the end, the Eagles came out on top. Then, there was the fact that New York was hoping to avoid tying a franchise record that they wanted no part of, but which they ultimately could not avoid.  

It began in 1981, when I first became a fan of the Giants. From that point until now, the G-Men had never lost nine straight games. In fact, they had only done it once before, in 1976, which is obviously not known as a great season for the Giants.  

Now, the Giants matched that with a disastrous loss in a game where they owned a sizable lead for much of the time. Unfortunately, it also came when Eli Manning returned to his starting role, and very nearly led the Giants to a surprising win.  

Instead, he watched as the Eagles pulled off an improbable comeback win, first tying the game up and forcing overtime, and then getting the winning touchdown to hand the Giants a crushing loss that felt very symbolic of how this season felt, far too often.  

With the win, Philadelphia improves to 6-7, and are now in a first place tie with Dallas. Those two teams will meet soon, in a game that is likely to decide who takes the NFC East crown.  

As for the Giants, they lose again. They drop their ninth straight, matching a dismal franchise record. Not the kind of record that this team wanted any part of, but it feels fitting this season, somehow. After all, the Giants are also flirting with the worst overall record that I have ever seen them have, which was just two years ago, when they tripped up from the beginning of the season, and finished with a dismal 3-13 record. Right now, it is not even certain that the G-Men can win another game before the end of the season, which means that they really could finish 2-14.  

If that happens, as a Giants fan, I can at least hope that the Bengals win a couple of games, and allow New York the first overall pick in the draft. Maybe that will finally help them out of their present rut. Because right now, this is a very bad team. They find new ways to lose with each game. 

My pick: Accurate