New York Giants’ Defeat of Philadelphia Eagles a Reversal of Last Year

Leading up to the Giants’ Sunday win over the suddenly vulnerable Eagles there was one obvious question that most reporters wanted a colorful quote about: what about last year’s debacle?

Here’s what Eli Manning had to say about last season’s gut-wrenching loss during the week: “It’s a new season, a new year, and we’re excited about this upcoming season and this game with Philadelphia. We just have to go out there and know our game plan and be ready to play.”

And win the final quarter this time, perhaps?

Manning must have quite a short-term memory—surely a by-product of his league-high 25 picks last year—to block out such an ugly loss.

Meanwhile head coach Tom Coughlin was just as bland about the opportunity for revenge. “What I’m trying to do, okay, that was last year, this is this year. That’s the position I’m trying to take. We’re certainly aware of the fact what has taken place in the past. But we’re trying not to let that affect us right now as we prepare for this one.”

Hard to believe either of them wasn’t thinking about last year as both have clearly copied their tight-lipped responses from the Bill Belichick school of how-to-say-nothing in an interview.

In case you forgot, here’s what happened:

After Eli Manning found Kevin Boss in the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown pass with 8:17 to go in the game, the Giants’ lead swelled to 31–10 and the contest seemed over. But it wasn’t.

On their ensuing possession, Philadelphia’s Michael Vick connected with Brent Celek down the middle for a 65-yard touchdown pass to make it 31–17. Then, after The Eagles recovered the onside kickoff, Vick marched his team 57 yards in five plays for another score and suddenly it was 31–24.

Andy Reid then burned all the Eagles’ timeouts on defense (while stopping the Giants) and Philly got the ball back—at their own 12 with 3:01 remaining, and promptly marched 88 yards to the end zone again for their third straight touchdown, tying the game at 31.

With the home crowd officially in panic mode, Eli engineered a crucial three-and-out and then punter Matt Dodge completed the collapse by kicking the ball right to speedster DeSean Jackson who bolted his way past the punt coverage for a game-winning 65-yard return as the clock ran out.

Fast forward to Sunday. After trailing 16–14 heading into the fourth, Manning completed six of his seven final-quarter passes for 85 yards and a pair of touchdowns while the Giants’ defense knocked Vick out of the game and then picked off two Kafka passes while holding the Eagles scoreless to preserve the statement-making-victory.

Afterwards Eli acknowledged the reversal of fortunes a bit, saying, “Obviously the fourth quarter, that’s what we knew we had to do, we had to win the fourth quarter. This year, unlike last year, we won the last eight minutes of the game. Guys stepped up, made some big plays, defense got turnovers, and we were able to get the victory, so that was a big win for us.”

Looks like his memory—perhaps returning with this year’s nearly turnover-free passing—has returned.