Manningham plays well but has costly fumble

Mario Manningham stared off into space, completely dumbfounded.

"I don't know what to say," the Giants receiver said. "I'm speechless, man. Real speechless."

Long before a ghastly defensive effort in the fourth quarter helped seal the Giants' fate in their 38-31 loss to the Eagles, Manningham caught 35- and 33-yard touchdown passes for a 14-3 lead. But the first multitouchdown game of the 24-year-old's career soon was overshadowed by a giant collapse on the final play and DeSean Jackson's blazing speed.

"I'm not a 'me' guy," said Manningham, who had 113 yards on eight catches despite being limited all week in practice because of a hip flexor injury. "I'd rather take the win and I won't get no catches and I'd still be happy. That's the kind of player I am. OK, great, I had two touchdowns. But it don't feel like nothing, though. We lost. I just feel empty."

Manningham lost a key fumble in the third quarter. With his team leading 24-3, on second-and-12 at the Giants' 14, he caught a short pass from Eli Manning and ran 10 yards up the sideline. But as Manningham was being driven out of bounds, he lost the ball in bounds, resulting in a fumble recovery by defensive tackle Mike Patterson at the 25. "It just came out," Manningham said.

It took the Eagles only three plays to score. Michael Vick scrambled for 13 yards, threw a 4-yard pass to Jason Avant and found Jeremy Maclin for an 8-yard touchdown that pulled the Eagles to within 24-10.

The Giants took another 21-point lead at 31-10, but Manningham could only watch from the sideline as the Eagles scored four touchdowns in the final 7:28 - capped by Jackson's game-winning 65-yard punt return as time ran out.

"We didn't finish," Manningham said. "We got into a position to break away, but we didn't execute well. It was just a bad fourth quarter. It was a terrible second half. Terrible."

In the absence of receiver Steve Smith, who underwent season-ending knee surgery last week, Manningham was a steady complement to the Giants' running game in the first half.

Manningham easily beat cornerback Dimitri Patterson - who was flagged for illegal contact - into the end zone on the Giants' third series of the game, capping a nine-play, 71-yard drive. Manningham scored again in the second quarter, using a spin move to outmaneuver Patterson en route to a 33-yard score.