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While all of us are in total football mode, amped up for the season, it seems as if the Giants are still out at the tailgate. The Giants made history on Sunday, but not the kind of history that New York fans would be proud of.
In fact, they have become the first team in NFL history to deliberately blow a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter in the first two games of a season. Resulting in a huge waste of a big day from Odell Beckham Jr, and costing them yet another victory. This is the third season in a row in which they’ve opened at 0-2, a franchise first.
With the blame on the $84 million man, Eli Manning (again), the Giants let go of the game, handing it to the Atlanta Falcons like a silly birthday present. The score of 24-20 is just as painful as the 27-26 loss suffered last week to the Dallas Cowboys.
Why is Manning largely to blame? Maybe his fumble on a sack late in the third quarter or crucial delay of game penalty in the fourth could explain it, making his 292 yards passing and those two touchdowns meaningless.
“Bad plays are going to happen. Things are going to happen, fumbles, turnovers, that stuff we got to be able to bounce back a little bit better and overcome those things and don’t let it affect us for future series” is what Manning told the media about today’s early game.
Beckham feels the same, adding “these are tough bullets to swallow, but these are the ones that build your team.
With 1:46 to play, Prince Amukamara, who was locked in single coverage against Julio Jones lost it to the Falcons’ big-play receiver for a 38-yard catch that put the ball on the 1. Two plays later, and Devonta Freeman came in with the game-winning touchdown.
If the Giants had taken the opportunity to make the game theirs going into the third quarter, the outcome could have been different. Leading, 20-10, with a little over four minutes to play in the third, Manning dropped back to pass, completely blindsided by linebacker Kroy Biermann, who slapped the ball right out of his hands.
The Falcons didn’t need much time to recover. Twelve plays later and Matt Ryan capped a 91-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Leonard Hankerson, making it a game at 20-17. Before the Atlanta comeback was in effect, the Giants had the chance to step up on third-and-seven from their own 39, but they took a delay of game penalty, resulting in a punt.
Maybe game three will prove that the Giants are back in this and ready to play in an all-or-nothing mindset.
