Every New York Giants fan has a personal list of regrets. There’s the Kenny Golladay contract, the Kadarius Toney experiment, the offensive line that never got fixed, the carousel of quarterbacks, the endless PR gaffes, and the never-ending excuse parade known as the Dave Gettleman era.
So when Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports dropped a list of every team’s biggest do-over in NFL history, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to relive the darkest days of that regime... until it didn't.
Instead, DeArdo went with a moment that predates Gettleman entirely. According to DeArdo, the biggest do-over in Giants' history came during the 2008 NFC Divisional Playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Giants, defending Super Bowl champs and the NFC’s top seed, were clinging to life early in the fourth quarter...
With the season on the line, they opted for a play call that took the ball out of the hands of their most reliable weapons:
"They could, however, have called a better play for Eli Manning with their season on the line in the divisional round of the 2008 playoffs.
Down 20-11 and facing a fourth-and-1 on their own 44 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Giants passed on giving the ball to either Brandon Jacobs or Derrick Ward (who combined to rush for 138 yards on 31 carries that day) and instead had Manning lunge into the teeth of the Eagles defense. Manning was unable to convert, and the Giants' title defense ended with a 23-11 loss to the visiting Eagles."
Giants’ biggest do-over has no trace of Dave Gettleman era
There were a few bad signs heading into that game. The G-Men limped into the playoffs, dropping three of their final four regular-season games. Plaxico Burress had accidentally shot himself a few weeks earlier. Still, they had home-field advantage, a capable backfield, and a veteran defense that knew how to close.
Apparently, none of it mattered. The Eagles’ defense shut it down. Manning was picked off twice. The offense never reached the end zone. And Tom Coughlin’s decision to sneak on fourth-and-1, rather than ride the hot hands of Jacobs or Ward, will always hang over that loss.
For all the times Big Blue let Eli cook, they picked the worst possible moment to do it with a quarterback clearly having an off day.
That game was the last playoff contest ever held at Giants Stadium. It was also the last shot that version of the team ever had at a real run. The core aged quickly after that. Coughlin never fully bounced back. And Burress' career essentially ended.
A few years later, the G-Men caught lightning again and won it all, but the 2008 season was supposed to be their chance to go back-to-back. That fourth-down call slammed the window shut.
So no, the worst moment in Giants' history wasn’t Kadarius Toney, the Nate Solder contract, or the time Dave Gettleman traded back for no reason and passed on Micah Parsons. It was the decision to have Eli sneak into a stacked box against a red-hot Eagles defense. The most painful part? Gettleman wasn’t even involved.