It truly was a hard-fought battle, as expected, with the winning score coming the last seconds. As promised, I'm eating crow. The Giants didn't pull it out, but they certainly made it a game and made their fans proud. For now, the Eagles are the better team and Giants fans have only coaching changes, free agency signings and the draft to look forward to.
Offense: B-
To the surprise of many, Eli Manning stepped up in the face of pressure and played well, though not exceptionally well. He actually showed the toughness we've all been waiting for and was often able to beat the blitz by finding his hot targets. One of those targets was Jeremy Shockey, who sucked up the pain of playing with a sprained ankle and played like man possessed (when he was involved). He was used sparingly, only catching 3 passes for 25 yards, but one of his catches was quite memorable. During the second quarter, Shockey caught an 11 yards pass over the middle and took a shot which caused his helmet to fly off. Instead of going down, he turned up-field and lowered his head, bulling his way for a few more yards and exposing himself to serious injury. It wasn't smart, but it took guts and heart. If the entire team played with such passion, the Giants would be perennial Super Bowl winners.
Plaxico Burress had a very good game, catching both Manning touchdowns. The lack of a complimentary receiver takes so much away from the entire offense. The Toomer injury was the biggest key to the downfall of this team, without a doubt.
During the final stop on his farewell tour, Tiki Barber dazzled. He rushed for 137 yards on 26 carries and caught 2 balls for 15 yards. He could have done more had the coaching staff taken off the shackles. It was a shame to see him underutilized during his last game. As a whole, the offense was inconsistent and left points on the board.
Defense: C-
For a good portion of the game the defense played well. unfortunately, you're only remembered for what; you've done lately and for the defense, that was to allow the Eagles to march down the field and scoring the winning field goal, while chewing up the clock.
If Tim Lewis comes back in 07, there could be a revolt by Giants fans. When and if he goes, he needs to take Demps, who can't tackle, McQuarters, who can't cover and Emmons (done) with him. Lewis has failed, for the entire season, to construct schemes that exploit an opponents weakness. That continued yesterday and the Giants were made to look weak.
The unit gave up a total of 323 yards and was torched for 185 yards, 141 of them by Brian Westbrook. He added 2 catches for 12 yards and seemed, at times, like he could run at will. The secondary was able to limit Jeff Garcia to 153 passing yards and was solid for most of the game. Oh, except when it counted.
Coaching: C
Again, Lewis must go. If Tom Coughlin stays, which he likely will, he needs to clean out his coaching staff. The players don't like Coughlin and likely feel the same way about his staff.
Coughlin should have run the ball 50 times yesterday and should simply have wont Tiki into the dirt. After all, the offense averaged 4.9 yards per carry and Tiki, at times, seemed unstoppable. Coughlin underutilized he and Brandon Jacobs all season and should be ashamed that Tiki had to retire in such a disappointing fashion. This offense, at least in terms of running the ball, had the potential to be dynamic.
