Giants Q&A: What happened on long TD pass?
How did DeSean Jackson get so open on his pivotal 54-yard touchdown reception?
Most of the Giants (as in all but one of them) were in cover-2, so CB Corey Webster let Jackson go behind him and sat down in the zone. Safety C.C. Brown was supposed to have coverage behind Webster, but he was caught in the middle of the field, where fellow S Michael Johnson was rightly patrolling. Without Brown there, all Jackson had to do was catch the ball and stroll into the end zone.
"All week in practice, we knew that if they ran a cover-2 on that play, it was going to be great for us," said Jackson, who has six TDs this season, all for more than 50 yards.
It wasn't a very good day for at least one guy named C.C. in Philly.
I know how it happened. But really, how does that happen?
"I have no idea," said Webster (who hemmed and hawed about specifics enough to let you know that he understood what happened but wasn't going to bury his safety). "We were in a coverage and he was able to find a hole in the coverage and able to make a play on the ball."
He added: "It's all 11 being on the same page. If one person is off, it's hard to get a defense. Communication is real big."
Haven't the Giants been through swoons like this before and bounced out of it?
Yes, but in football, as in life, timing is everything. "It normally happens early in the season," Justin Tuck said. "After starting 5-0 and playing as well as we were and to now do it, I've never had that problem."
Tuck noted the slow start to the 2007 season, in which the Giants rebounded to win the Super Bowl. "We've always come out of the gate slow," he said. "We've never started great and then had a slump like this in the middle of the season."
What was the mood like in the postgame locker room?
Those expecting fireworks were sorely disappointed. There were some strong words, but there wasn't much emotion. The Giants were more glassy-eyed and stunned than headbanging and angry. "We have to get it together or this whole thing is going to go upside down, and us as a team will not let that happen," an even-tempered Brandon Jacobs said. "If we fall into that trap that we just lost three in a row, blah blah blah, it could get really bad."
Kevin Boss has returned?
Yeah, the 2008 leader in receiving TDs finally got one. He also suffered what looked like a pretty gruesome injury when his leg was caught under a pile and he was folded up backward. But Boss said his ankle got more twisted up than his knee. He returned to the game.
I thought Mario Manningham said he'd play?
He did say that Friday, but he was inactive. Tom Coughlin said the second-year starting receiver didn't look comfortable in Saturday's walk-through after injuring his shoulder on a fall in Thursday's practice, so he sat out. The shoulder has been bothering Manningham for several weeks, but Coughlin would not say whether it is separated or just sore.
