Giants Defense Melts Down Late in Tough Loss to Eagles

The Good

While this loss was painful, there were still some positivities from the game. For the first three and a half quarters, the defense actually had played well. That may seem like a typo but it is not. Before the meltdown ensued, the defense had done their job.

Through three and a half quarters, the Giants defense had three sacks as well as an interception. They only allowed ten points and along with some offense, had the team in a perfect position to win.

Blake Martinez is becoming a constant positive for the Giants. Martinez had another strong outing as the tackling machine had nine combined tackles, seven solo and two assisted, two quarterback hits and even a pass defended.

There was one more relatively bright spot for Giants fans. They got to see the return of Sterling Shepard. While Shepard did not have a monster game, he was still productive. In his first game back, Shepard finished with six receptions for 59 yards and a touchdown.

It was good to see Shepard back in action and immediately making an impact. These are the sort of positive signs that fans desperately need right now, especially in a painful season like this one.

The Ugly

Normally, there would be a section titled “The Bad”. There was no bad, however, just ugly. Everything that occurred after the 6:10 mark in the fourth quarter was absolutely disastrous. This was when the Giants had the aforementioned 21-10 lead and had just given Philly the ball back.

The worst part of the collapse is not even that it happened, instead it’s how it happened. On just six plays and under two minutes, the Giants had two bad penalties and let up a huge 59-yard gain that put Philly in scoring position. This was not the end of the Giants defensive meltdown, though, it was only the beginning.

The penalties also continued on the next Philly offensive possession, as a pass interference was called and a defensive holding call that would have gotten the Giants off the field. The Eagles took the lead with just 40 seconds left to play in the game, sending a dagger into Giants fans’ hearts.

As if all these mistakes were not enough, the offense made another one in their final drive. Daniel Jones, AKA “The human turnover machine”, would manage to do it yet again. With the game on the line and 20 seconds left, Jones got strip sacked to end the game.

As easy as it would be to blame Jones for this loss, you just can not do so. While yes, that turnover iced the game, the Giants never should have been in that situation. The defense needs to hold the Eagles better in final minute situations and not allow them to score twice, like they did.

Verdict

The Giants defense had been the strong suit early on. Now it is a becoming a liability. With a two score lead, this is just inexcusable. The Giants, and in particular the defense, have to be able to close games. This is something that needs to be fixed immediately if the Giants will have any shot at winning more games this season.

I hope you enjoyed my Giants week six recap, Follow me on Twitter @Jake_Malik for more New York Giants news and notes and follow @OT_Heroics for any and all things sports! 

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