Demps starts the second half with a big and lovely return where he got every possible yard out of it; the Eagles will start at their own 47, into the wind. Avant gets a couple on a long out throw to the left. From the 49, utter and complete disaster, as Don's pass is blocked at the line, tipped by a lineman, and collected by Giants defensive lineman Fred Robbins, who takes it to the Eagles 33. Kill me. But if you are looking for omens, the barely-there ankle tackle by Kevin Curtis kept Robbins from getting it a lot closer.
Jacobs for 10 through traffic as Joe and Troy can not control the glee in their voices. He gets it again for five, and has 11 for 65 on the day, and the Giants do us a favor by bringing him off. From the gun, Eli throws to Ward, who dribbles it. Samuel is in the locker room getting an IV. Get me one too, please. Third and five is a huge play, of course, and Mikell is on the sidelines, too. How fast things change... and from the gun, Eli can't get it to Boss short of the sticks, with Considine making the play. Another terrible ball from the Super Bowl Hero. Carney tries from 35, and with 12:37 left in the quarter, they take the lead back, 11-10.
That's the fourth lead change of the day, and about the best that could be hoped for after a disastrous pick. And I had such dreams of this being out of reach for the home team in the fourth. (Well, no, not really.)
Can Demps give them good starting position again? Samuel returns jogging, which makes me a little happier about life. Tynes to the 1, and Demps has little room; he gets it to the 25. Don rolls out on first and watches Celek's second drop of the day, this one on a roll screen that might have gotten five, and today, five yards means a lot. Troy, of course, buries Don for the drop. Buck gets five with a flag on the field that is, of course, offensive holding. Todd Herremans is guilty of the 7th flag of the day against the road team, versus four for the home squad. Not that I'm bitter. Quinton Mikell leaves limping. Joy. A bubble screen to Dub doesn't work -- hey, why not call it grounding? -- as Don gets slammed. On third and 20, I'm dreaming of a defensive hold. From the gun, DOn avoids pressure, throws cross-field to a wide-open Avant, and he gets the first with a gutty little run at the close. HUGE PLAY. ALL CAPS LETTERS HUGE PLAY.
Kiwanuka leaves with an arm injury, and Don hits Curtis in the hands for a 30+ yard fly that he just plain drops. The miscue is mitigated by a defensive penalty, but good heavens, you have to make that play. Such is the nature of fandom that I yelled much more at the drop than I did at the play to Avant. But yelling has happened on both plays, naturally.
From the Giant 41 with Don looking suddenly sharp, Buck for a few out of the backfield. Giant Fan making noise and sounding worried, and Curtis catches the second down dart that is in his hands for a nice crossing gain. All of ths into the wind, and they've got it at the Giants 41 now.
A Buck run left gets nothing, but at least Andy is still calling them, and giving them to his best RB on the ground. Second and 10 from the gun, and Don can't get it to Avant on a screen against a blitz that might not have gone for much anyway, Justin Tuck is on the ground now, and we go to commerce.
Can they convert the second big third down of the drive and give themselves a chance at the go-ahread points? From the gun, Don has all day, and finally finds Buck for 19 on one of this improv plays that Dub usually makes. Again, huge, and the Giants have to start thinking about blitzing. Avant down on the play is also not useful. Guys are dropping like dominoes in this game.
From the 23, Dub gets a nice little 5 yard gain on the play where DJ is faking the end around. Tuck back in, but looking less than hale. Don misses Dub on a fade route where the man is open, but Don has to unload with a free blitzer, and the wind is no help there. On third and five from the gun, Don misses Dub against a blitz, and Akers is on to try from 35. He gets it, and Joe tries to jinx him hard by noting that he's now made 17 straight post-season figgies, a new record. At least he didn't get to that factoid before the attempt. Our fifth lead change of day makes it Eagles 13, Giants 11, with 7:45 left. I'm taking solace in the fact that the Eagles will have the wind in the fourth.
Akers gets it to the 7, and Bradshaw returns it to the 32; about as much as you can hope for into the wind. Can the defense get a three and out and really make the home team sweat? Troy lobbies for more Brandon Jacobs, and the Giants oblige for 3 on first down. Clock running, and on second down, Jacobs goes left on one of those sidewise runs that makes him ordinary. He gets two, and the third and five is a big chance. Can the defense get off the field? From the gun, Eli finally makes a good throw downfield, and the Giants second third-down conversion is a huge 34-yard play to Hixon. Damn, damn, damn. Giants have the ball at the Eagles 30, but the usual thing happens there, which is that the offense can't get in place fast enough. Eli calls time, and both defenses are starting to show cracks at this point. The difference in this game, you suspect, is that someone will eventually score a red zone touchdown. I'm just hoping it's not the home team.
5:22 left, and We Have Tension. On first, Eli has all day, then throws against his body to Hixon, who Sheldon Brown lays out on a high throw. Second down is a give to Jacobs, and he goes sidewise for a yard. The second big third down play of the drive is a third and nine with a long field goal try looming. From the gun, Eli is incomplete to Ward as Mikell's blitz is helpful. Both teams are just dialing up the execution in the red zone on defense. From 47, Carney misses again, this time to the left, and that's just immense. The Giants have left 6 points on the board today from the kicking game, which is just about the dead opposite of what usually happens to the Eagles in games at this stadium.
From the 37 and the gun, Don gives to Dub, who guts out 5 yards. A little more breathing room for the back in the second half, but not too much; he's now at 11 for 21 on the day. From the gun again, Don fakes the run but can't get the screen to work, and throws it away. Third down is, as you might imagine, a big down, especially with the defense being on the field a lot today. From the gun, Don is perfect to Curtis on a slant, with the blitz in his face again. Perfect coverage doesn't matter when the QB is sharp. Wow, and the Eagles are now 6 for 10 on third down.
Don tries Curtis again, and Webster draws the flag for PI; Coughlin is wildly irate, and the refs might actually go back on the call. Unreal. Chalk one up for Coughlin on that one; I've never seen a crew so pussy-whipped by a coaching staff before. The Eagles wind up calling timeout after the play, and Reid just doesn't have the aerobic activity to get that play overturned again. Even Joe and Troy think the Giants might have gotten away with one here, though I kind of hate that it cost a timeout.
From midfield and the gun, Don finds Smith for 6 yards, and the get-even obvious call is a face mask on Pierce, which brings it to the Giants 29. Don finds Curtis, who scampers to the Giants 14, and the offense is looking good right now. Can they keep it up even in the red zone? From the gun again, Don gets it to Celek, who bulls his way to six yards. The Giants still haven't sacked Don this year, and they are sending a lot of blitzers his way. Second and four is a give to Dub, and he gets three up the gut. Less than a minute left in the third quarter, and this is another huge, huge play... and Dub takes it on a sweep to the 2, for the first down. They let the clock run out, and at the end of three quarters, it's Eagles 13, Giants 11.
strengths and weaknesses of the playoff teams. I'm just here for the hate.
