No Smiles for Eli After the Game
Photo: Michael Henriquez NY Beacon
By Andrew Rosario
The last time Eli Manning stepped on the field at MetLife Stadium he led the team to a 36-20 win over the Miami Dolphins. Manning threw 2 touchdowns and 228 yards. When he was removed from the game, the sold out crowd chanted his name while giving him a standing ovation. When the New York Giants hosted the Atlanta Falcons this past Sunday, Manning was inducted in the team’s Ring of Honor at halftime. Big Blue looked like they would honor Manning with their first win of the season. It would not happen as the Giants defense melted down giving up 10 points in the last 4:13 in losing 17-14 when Falcons field goal kicker Younghoe Koo nailed a 40 yard field goal as the clock expired.
New York, on the strength of Graham Gano’s two field goals, (25, 31) took a 6-0 lead and then watched Falcons veteran quarterback Matt Ryan (27-36, 243 yards, 2 td’s) move his team 36 yards on 6 plays ending in a 4-yard touchdown pass to Olamide Zaccheaus giving them a 7-6 halftime lead. The home town crowd booing the team as they ran off the field.
The Giants offense struggled in the third quarter punting twice before they scored as Daniel Jones marched them downfield in 10 plays, 64 yards ending in a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Saquan Barkley. Jones then ran from 2-yards out completing the 2-point conversion given them a 14-7 lead. Then the meltdown began.
Ryan (6 complete passes on the drive) used more than 8 minutes going down field in 15 plays, 67 yards as he connects with Lee Smith with a 1-yard touchdown pass tying the game at 14. Seven plays later, New York punted and Ryan connected on long passes of 25 and 28 yards before the game winning field goal.
Photo: Michael Henriquez NY Beacon
Barkley finished his day rushing for 51 yards on 16 carries and caught 6 passes for 43 yards. “I don’t think we’re a bad team,” he said afterwards. “This is the NFL. There’s no bad teams in the NFL. I won’t consider us a bad team. We’ve just got to figure it out. That’s the difference.”
Injuries hurt the team on both sides of the ball. First Blake Martinez gone out with a knee injury. On Monday it was discovered he tore his MCL and will be lost for the season. Later on that day wide receivers Sterling Shepard(end of first quarter) and Darius Slayton (second quarter) strained their hamstring. Their status for Sunday when they travel to New Orleans in uncertain.
For another week, second year head coach Joe Judge tried to spin some positive points after the game. “I was pleased with a lot of things our team did today but ultimately we didn’t finish,” he began. “We got to do a better job of finishing drives finishing the game.”
The New York Football Giants lost their first 5 games last year. After the Saints, they travel to Dallas, host the Rams and Carolina, travel to Kansas City before hosting the Las Vegas Raiders. It is very conceivable they could lose all of those games.
