That thud you heard was the Giants crashing back to earth after soaring so high two weeks ago. Their 38-20 loss to the Eagles in Philadelphia was more the norm in this NFC East series than the 34-17 Giants victory back on Oct. 9. Order was restored as the Eagles beat the Giants for the 13th consecutive time at Lincoln Financial Field.
Here are some thoughts about what went down:
— Last week in Denver, Wan’Dale Robinson caught six passes and no other Giants wide receiver had a single reception — Darius Slayton was out with a strained hamstring. A week later, Robinson caught three passes, Slayton caught two and Beaux Collins caught one in the loss to the Eagles. No other wide receiver had a reception. Lil’Jordan Humphrey was on the field for 33 of the 52 snaps on offense and was not targeted once by Jaxson Dart. Collins was on the field for 12 snaps and targeted twice. Head coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka knew they would have to improvise after Malik Nabers went down in Week 4 with a torn ACL, and the plan was to use more two tight end formations and to get the tight ends more involved in the passing game. That meant an uptick for Daniel Bellinger — who has responded well to this increased action — and more for Theo Johnson — who continues to show flashes but lacks the consistency to be a truly expendable primary target. The lack of depth at wide receiver is a glaring deficiency. The Giants cannot trade for anyone who is going to make a big difference. Maybe they can acquire someone who can help. But there are no reinforcements comin’ round the bend to save the day here.
— The run defense was worse than you thought it was, if that is possible. On paper, it says that the Eagles ran it 33 times and amassed 276 rushing yards. That is an unsightly 8.4 yards per attempt allowed by the Giants. Those are the official numbers. But the Eagles were so far ahead and the game had long been decided when backup quarterback Tanner McKee was called on for three kneel-downs to put this one to bed. For some reason, the NFL continues to count these kneel-downs in their official rushing stats, which makes no sense. Take away the three kneel-downs that lost a total of two yards, and the Eagles ran it 30 times for 274 yards — an average of 9.1 yards per attempt. So, if you thought it could not look worse for the Giants’ defense, there you have it. It was even worse.
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