Giants’ grades
C OFFENSE
After three slumbering quarters, the Giants exploded in the fourth for 227 total yards, nine first downs, three touchdowns and 24 points. Odell Beckham Jr. caught two touchdown passes to spark the resurgence and Sterling Shepard took a slant 77 yards to the house, all in 5:27. It was what the offense was supposed to look like all season. Eli Manning completed 35 of 47 for 366 yards but had two interceptions. The running game continues to flounder — 49 yards on 17 carries — and Paul Perkins had only 22 yards on nine carries.
D DEFENSE
The Giants took the lead twice in the final 7:12, but the defense was unable to make it stick. “That’s on us,” cornerback Eli Apple said. “Any time we get the lead, especially late, we have to put it on our shoulders.” Instead, they allowed a four-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. The Giants allowed a whopping 193 rushing yards. The most damning thing anyone could say about the defense came from Ben McAdoo: “We put enough points on the board to win today.”
D SPECIAL TEAMS
Brad Wing mis-hit a punt out of bounds with 13 seconds left to give the Eagles a chance at the winning field goal. Dwayne Harris was flagged for advancing a punt return after calling for a fair catch. On the positive side, Aldrick Rosas hit a pressure-packed 41-yard field goal for a 24-21 lead with 3:08 remaining.
D COACHING
McAdoo did not tell Odell Beckham Jr. to crawl like a dog and lift his leg after scoring a touchdown, but it’s on the coach to create an atmosphere in which that behavior is not tolerated. “We aren’t playing smart football,” McAdoo said of getting penalized 15 yards for Beckham’s display. There were other penalties at inopportune times, such as John Jerry holding a defensive player to keep him from getting off the field while the Giants were in the red zone in the fourth quarter. That forced them to settle for a field goal. Trying to run from the 1 on fourth-and-goal in the closing moments of the half was a mistake. McAdoo was trying to ignite a spark with a touchdown, but he should have taken the points to make it 7-3.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
