In what was one of the oddest games of the year by the end of the contest I was more confused then upset. How did all this happen in 60 minutes:

Hixon fumbles 2 kickoffs, redeems himself with a 61 yard TD where he breaks 2 tackles. Hakeem Nicks drops a sure 50+ TD, and a 40 yard catch then redeems himself with a 68 yard TD breaking 2 tackles along the way. Osi Umenyiora sacks Donovan Mcnabb causing a fumble, but the back judge calls it an incomplete pass (apparently wrong) so the ball sits live on the field for 15 seconds before the play is ruled dead and awarded to the Eagles (After every play in the NFL some idiot picks up the ball and starts to run, but not on this night). Michael Boley drops a sure pick 6,  Fred Robbins blocks an extra point, Jonathan Goff gets his first NFL pick and on the following play Eli Manning fumbles on a slide while never being touched. The Giants are down 14 to 0 5 minutes into the game after a Jacobs fumble is returned 60 yards for a TD. After not allowing any returns for a TD all year (this includes, punt, kickoff, fumble or Int) the Giants then allow there second in the same game on a DeSean Jackson punt return which was eerily similar to Brian Westbrook‘s punt return 7 years earlier. With 5 minutes to go in the 4th quarter the Giants take their first lead 31-30 and 15 seconds later it is erased on a DeSean Jackson TD and the Eagles never looked back. After the play fat Andy Reid did a jumping side bump with DeSean that made me punch myself in the groin several times. Was it me or were there far to many smiling Eagles throughout the game?

This was like watching a video game, but in the end the Eagles always had an answer for the Giants who only showed up in one phase of the game and that was offense. Neither teams defense came to play, but the Eagles D, or perhaps the conditions, forced 4 turnovers to the Giants 1 and special teams was once again a let down for big blue. This must be what Cowboys fans  feel like after playing the Giants. If you look at the numbers you would assume the Giants won (512 total yards) but costly turnovers and big plays killed the Giants all game long. The Giants lost this one as a group. While the offense was firing on almost all cylinders, they gave the Eagles the ball 4 times (only 2 of those fumbles impacted the game, but they were critical) the defense was no where to be found and our once consistent directional punter has finally met his match in old man time. On to the heroes and goats:

Heroes

DeSean Jackson – He is simply to fast for anyone in the league to cover unless you get a pass rush. On his sixty yard touchdown Donovan McNabb actually microwaved up some Campbells chunky soup, served it too each of his lineman, took a nap, hit snooze on his alarm, twice, then woke up to throw the ball downfield to a wide oped Jackson. He had 6 catches for 178 yards, a punt return TD, and 261 yards of total offense. He showed no ill affects of  a concussion suffers 2 weeks prior and did most of his damage without a legitmate second wide receiver, as Maclin left the game early in the first half.

Darren Howard – He had 2 sacks and 3 tackles in limited time, and was able to beat Chris Snee on a tremendous spin move on a critical drive in the 3rd quarter.

Eli Manning – Yes he had a fumble, but he also was 27/38 for 391 yards (career best) and could have had even better numbers had the Giants not had 6 drops on the night. Manning did a great job pre snap,  forcing the Eagles to show their blitzes with long cadence calls and then in turn found the right matchup to throw to.

DeSean Jackson – Yep he deserves two mentions, despite his ridiculous end zone dances which made me light my face on fire.

Donovan McNabb - He wasn’t great, but every time the Giants came back he had an answer. Who’s smile makes you angrier his or Romo’s?

Jeremiah Trotter –  Writing down his name as a Hero is causing me physical pain, but you have to give it to a guy  who took a full year off of football and still plays the run better then any linebacker on Big Blue. For a guy who can’t cover he almost came up with a pick, but instead watched the ball sail through his hands into Kevin Boss‘s (yet another weird play) but still he had 9 tackles in his limited time.

Goats

Bill Sheridan – The Giants Defense is built on getting home, yet it’s clear they have no idea where home is. Mcnabb had all day to throw and once again picked apart the Giants inexperienced safeties. The “Amoeba” defense, which brought pressure against Romo, was clearly tinkered with by Sheridan mid week because it now seems to be code for “prevent defense.” In fact on one “amoeba” set the Giants had Boley playing safety and Kiwanuka covering as a backer. This has to be some sort of sick joke  Sheridan is playing on Giants fans. What is even more startling is the Eagles played the majority of the game without their number 2 wideout, Jeremy Maclin, but Sheridan still couldn’t find a way to get DeSean Jackson covered.

The right side of the line - Wether it’s Mathias Kiwanuka or Osi Umenyiora this side continues to over pursue. They were aided by some horrible angles by strong side backer Bryan Kehl.

Jeff Feagles – That punt has to be out of bounds. Yes it cornered DeSean, but that’s not enough against the deadliest punt returner in the league. Later Feagles kicked a low line drive right to Jackson but fortunately a penalty negated a big return.

Mario Manningham – Can the Giants please bring in Amani Toomer to teach this kid how to run a route and use the sideline as an advantage. If I have to hear Chris Collinsworth berate Mario’s inability to press a corner inside before heading to the sideline I may rip off my ears.

The secondary/ no the line/ no the backers – As I started writing this I called out Ross and Rouse, but the truth is any safeties will be beat in one on one’s with wide-outs if a quarterback is given time. This defense is built on the concept of pressure and there simply hasn’t been any consistent push up front. Even when Sheridan dials up a blitz, he doesn’t seem to hide it well. In fact, I now watch the line on the blitz and not the QB. If they send 6 and they don’t get pressure you know a vet like McNabb is going to pick  the secondary apart. I was “uggghing” before he ever threw the ball on Sunday night simply watching the blizers get picked up with ease.

In what was a very strange game I still came out thinking the Giants would make the playoffs based solely on the schedule. With the Redskins, Carolina and what could be a meaningless game against the Vikings (for the Vikes that is) the Giants could easily run the table, while the Cowboys still have the Saints, and the Eagles have Denver and Dallas. As my friend Shep pointed out “who cares, so they slip into the playoffs and lose first round.” Perhaps, but that’s why they play the games.

-A very confused monday morning David Jacks.