Giants 42, Eagles 7 – Big Win Isn’t Enough To Keep Playoff Hopes Alive For G-Men

The New York Giants came out with pride and plenty of effort today as they dismantled the Philadelphia Eagles in the regular season finale with a 42-7 win.

Despite the Giants doing their part today, they still needed plenty of help to reach the playoffs this season and it turned out to be just too much to overcome. They were eliminated from playoff contention because of Chicago’s win over the Lions.

The Giants needed to beat the Eagles today and get losses from the Lions, Vikings, and Cowboys in order to get into the postseason.

The season and title defense comes to an end for the Giants and it started off with so much potential, however things fell apart in the second half of the season with a 3-5 record down the stretch. Their slump took away any control they had over their own destiny.

Inconsistency plagued the Giants all season, however they were clicking today against the Eagles who looked every bit as bad as their record this season indicated.

This game was pretty much over at halftime as the Giants offense exploded in the first half for 35 points with 4 touchdown passes from Eli Manning and game-changing runs by Ahmad Bradshaw.

Rookie wide receiver Rueben Randle did a fantastic job of stepping in for the banged up Hakeem Nicks at wide receiver today and caught the first two touchdowns of the game from Manning. Nicks has been hampered all season with foot and knee issues and it was a key reason why the Giants struggled to develop any consistency with their passing game.

The Eagles one shining moment was at the start of the game with a successful onsides kick recovery, however Michael Vick was intercepted by Stevie Brown and that helped set up the Giants for their first score. Brown had a breakthrough season for the Giants, finishing with 8 interceptions.

What’s Next

Plenty of evaluation. The Giants have plenty of decisions to make in the offseason, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Corey Webster, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck could very well have played their final game in a Giants uniform. 9-7 was good enough last season to get into the playoffs and the Giants went on to win the Super Bowl. This season the results were different.