The New York Giants playoff hopes took a hit as they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, but with some help from other teams in their conference they were able to clinch a playoff berth.
In this game against the Eagles the Giants made several mistakes and those are things that will need to change as they enter the playoffs. The Eagles are out of playoff contention, but they wanted to make the road for the Giants difficult.
The Eagles defense played a big role in their in their victory over the Giants, and they would come out of the gate ready to play.
A good take away from this game for the Giants was the ability to control the time of possession. They had the ball for 34 minutes and were able to set themselves up for a comeback.
The Giants need to keep more of the time of possession in their playoff matchups in order to keep their defense off the field and also tire out the defense of the opposing team.
Although time of possession was not an issue for the Giants in this game it may have hurt them because of their turnovers. Play calling on the offensive side of the ball hurt the Giants in a big way.
The Giants offense and defense were stunned at the start of the game. The first drive of the game for Philadelphia resulted in a 25 yard touchdown courtesy of Darren Sproles. That touchdown forced the Giants to try and come right back with a score of their own.
On the second drive of the game for the Giants Eli Manning would throw an interception that would be returned 34 yards for a touchdown by Malcolm Jenkins.
After that play the Eagles would maintain their lead throughout the game and go on to win. The Giants offense got in trouble often during this game and they need to make some adjustments going into their final game of the season.
Manning had a rough outing throwing only one touchdown and three interceptions. He got the ball out it his star wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz, and Sterling Shepard a total of 44 times. They would catch 26 of those 44 attempts, but only Shepard would score a touchdown during the game.
The rest of the Giants scoring would come from field goals as they were not able to do much in the red zone. The Giants could not get much going on the ground as well. They would have a total of 114 rushing yards and would not reach the end zone.
The Giants have one more game to close out the regular season and that will come against the Washington Redskins. This game has no meaning to the Giants because they are already in the playoffs, but they will be able to finish the season 11-5 if they come away with a win.
A win in this game would give the Giants a boost of confidence going into their playoff matchup. That is something that the Giants need because some of the losses they had during the regular season. They would be able go into the playoffs hot and possibly stay hot in route to another Super Bowl.