Image by Getty Images via @daylife I know it happened more than 3 days ago, but it took this long for me to talk about this rationally. The New York Giants lost their game against the division rival Philadelphia Eagles after leading by 21 points with only 8 minutes to play. For the last few days I have listened to commentators talk about whether the Giants lost or the Eagles won. This question is absurd. Anyone that watched the game knows that the Giants lost the game because of stupid and very costly mental errors. I can think of at least six unbelievable mistakes that cost the giants the game.The first was the fumble by Mario Manningham. While being tackled going out of bounds, Manningham was holding the ball away from his body and somehow fumbled the ball back into the field of play with the Eagles recovering the ball. The Eagles would go on to score their first TD of the game. Why wasn't the ball secured during the tackle? Hakeem Nicks did the same thing in the first half on a tackle near the sidelines without fumbling, but the danger is the same. Tuck the ball away when you are getting hit. There is no reason to be careless just because you are close to a sideline.
Second, what was Kenny Phillips thinking on the touchdown pass to the tight end running down the middle of the field? The Giants were in some kind of 3 deep coverage with Justin Tuck taking away the short pass in the middle of the field and Phillips taking away the deep middle. Phillips properly breaks on the ball when Vick releases it, but while the ball is in the air Phillips has a brain fart. He decides to go for the passive interception while ignoring a wide open receiver in his zone. By the time he realized the receiver was going to make the catch it was too late for him to change his angle to make the tackle. Why are you playing for a pick in this situation and if you’re going to do that why not go after the ball instead of waiting for it to drop in your hands? Your job is to stop the deep pass from being completed. This means you have to keep the receiver from catching the ball in your zone. You didn't even know he was there!
I hate that he is third, but Terrell Thomas had one of the worst plays of the game on the touchdown pass that he allowed. Thomas was lined up in man coverage and was playing off of the wide receiver by about 7 to 10 yards when the Eagles 15 to 20 yards from the end zone. There is no reason for such a large cushion in this situation. Any inside move is a completion, any quick throw is a completion with an opportunity for the receiver to run after the catch, and you have no chance of making the receiver deviate from his route. The receiver runs a hitch route for about 7 or 10 yards, Thomas breaks on the receiver when the ball is thrown and closes quickly enough to make a tackle but didn't. He didn't make the tackle because even though the receiver was only a few feet from the sideline, Thomas drove to the outside half of the receiver. The receiver spins to the inside and scores easily. What would posses you to play the receiver to the outside when you can take away the inside and still force him out of bounds? Why give him the option of coming back inside where you have no help? What was the thought process here?
I'm not going to spend much time on number 4. I was on the kick return team for all 9 years that I played football. Rule number one on the front line of this team: Make sure the ball is kicked before you turn and run. Rule number two: Never turn your back to the ball. Enough said.
Mistake number 5 happens across 3 plays on the same drive. When you are blitzing a running quarterback you have to stay disciplined and hold your gaps. Aaron Ross forgot about that when he rushed from the outside and instead of squeezing the pocket he cut inside of the tackle giving up contain and allowing Vick to run for 30 plus yards. Later in the drive the pocket is being squeezed with the blitz but no one is in the middle to keep Vick from stepping up and running so he does just that. Antrel Rolle had a free run at Vick and instead of getting low and running threw his hip; Rolle tries to tackle Vick around his shoulders. This allows Vick to take a half step to the side and duck out of the way. You have to know the situation and what you are supposed to do. Blitzing is a lot less risky when you play your responsibility and make tackles.
Finally, kicking the ball to Jackson was stupid; really, really stupid. Matt Dodge knew that and tried to kick the ball out of bounds. He received a high snap which got him off rhythm and he missed the kick. The game never should have come down to a punt return so and honestly this kid has taken enough punishment from everyone else so I'll leave him alone.
The Giants had the division, a guaranteed playoff berth, and the second seed in the playoffs in their grasp and gave all of it to the Eagles. I am still in utter shock that these mistakes took place and cost the Giants a game. This was the worst loss that I have ever witnessed and the players have to find a way to make good for the rest of the season or they will lose out on the playoffs and probably lose their head coach.
