For the first Sunday this season the Giants looked flat, tired and got outplayed. The Giants were beat at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles 20-14. Could this be the result of Plaxico Burress and all the distraction surrounding last week's incident?
To most people the answer would probably be yes. I will have to say that the Burress situation did affect the Giants this week, even if it was indirectly. The focus all week was on Plax and Anotonio Pierce and about what the Giants were going to do as a result of the shooting. Question after question, report after report, rumor after rumor. I honestly don't remember hearing anything about the Eagles this week. Everything I saw was about Plaxico so I can only imagine how things were around the Giants all week. This whole situation was embedded in all of our minds and was the focus in the Meadowlands.
The Giants didn't score until a last second field goal block at the end of the first half. Justin Tuck blocked a Philly FG attempt and it was recovered by Kevin Dockery and he went all the way for the Touchdown. In a matter of seconds the G-men went from lifeless to right back in the thick of things down 10-7 at the half.
Was it a Philly upset on Sunday or was it that the Giants were due for a loss. I think it's a little bit of both. When Brian Westbrook and Donovan McNabb are playing well, they are hard to stop. McNabb finished 19-of-30 for 191 yards. Westbrook gained 131 yards on a season-high 33 carries and caught 6 passes for 72 yards all while recording 1 rushing and receiving TD.
The win for Philly gives them life in their pursuit of making the playoffs. The Giants even with the loss clinched the NFC East.
The Giants will face the Cowboys in Dallas next Sunday night in what appears to be a sure classic in the making. The Cowboys are coming off a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in which they dominated most of the game but lost in the final minutes of the 4th quarter. The Giants 7 game winning streak was snapped and hope that this game was just a bump in the road and the Burress situation is behind them so they can move forward and concentrate on a Dallas team looking for revenge because they didn't put up much of a fight earlier in the season when the teams met in Giants Stadium.
Time for the Giants to put this game behind them and focus on the task at hand, getting by the Cowboys and getting things ready for the postseason. Let's hope Coughlin and his crew are free of distraction the rest of the way.
To most people the answer would probably be yes. I will have to say that the Burress situation did affect the Giants this week, even if it was indirectly. The focus all week was on Plax and Anotonio Pierce and about what the Giants were going to do as a result of the shooting. Question after question, report after report, rumor after rumor. I honestly don't remember hearing anything about the Eagles this week. Everything I saw was about Plaxico so I can only imagine how things were around the Giants all week. This whole situation was embedded in all of our minds and was the focus in the Meadowlands.
"I thought we had a good week of practice despite what everyone is going to say," Pierce said after the game. "It was just a bad game."
The Giants didn't score until a last second field goal block at the end of the first half. Justin Tuck blocked a Philly FG attempt and it was recovered by Kevin Dockery and he went all the way for the Touchdown. In a matter of seconds the G-men went from lifeless to right back in the thick of things down 10-7 at the half.
"That was what I was looking for. ... We had a chance. We didn't do anything with it," Coach Tom Coughlin said.
Was it a Philly upset on Sunday or was it that the Giants were due for a loss. I think it's a little bit of both. When Brian Westbrook and Donovan McNabb are playing well, they are hard to stop. McNabb finished 19-of-30 for 191 yards. Westbrook gained 131 yards on a season-high 33 carries and caught 6 passes for 72 yards all while recording 1 rushing and receiving TD.
“I just think we kind of beat them,” said Eagles tight end L.J. Smith, who had six catches for 44 yards. “It’s tough to say. That’s one of those: ‘How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll?’ Who knows if the distractions hurt them and helped us? I don’t know.”
The win for Philly gives them life in their pursuit of making the playoffs. The Giants even with the loss clinched the NFC East.
The Giants will face the Cowboys in Dallas next Sunday night in what appears to be a sure classic in the making. The Cowboys are coming off a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in which they dominated most of the game but lost in the final minutes of the 4th quarter. The Giants 7 game winning streak was snapped and hope that this game was just a bump in the road and the Burress situation is behind them so they can move forward and concentrate on a Dallas team looking for revenge because they didn't put up much of a fight earlier in the season when the teams met in Giants Stadium.
Time for the Giants to put this game behind them and focus on the task at hand, getting by the Cowboys and getting things ready for the postseason. Let's hope Coughlin and his crew are free of distraction the rest of the way.
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