Giants fan reaction: Giants choke game, NFC East away to Eagles

Gag. Choke. Collapse. You bet it was. Remember this thought one month from now, though. Champions and MVPs win these games.

The Philadelphia Eagles scored 28 points in under eight minutes to stun the New York Giants 38-31 on Sunday afternoon. A full game recap and box score can be found here.

You'll notice that "the good" has been removed from this week's recap. Eli Manning's 4 touchdown passes and those eleven hits on Mike Vick don't really seem all that great anymore, anyway.

The bad: Mario Manningham's third quarter fumble, the first one he lost this season, resulted in a Vick touchdown pass and the Philadelphia offense getting momentum really for the first time during the contest. This play will hopefully shine a spotlight onto the fact that New York receivers just don't put the football away after catches. Hakeem Nicks looks like he's carrying a cell phone with him half the time. Manningham constantly takes the "loaf of bread" approach to running with the football.

I'm not saying it would have mattered at all but New York's play calling with under five minutes to play was baffling. The Giants had the ball third and eight on the Eagles side of the field with about 3:10 to play and Philadelphia with no timeouts remaining. Instead of running the ball and running 40 seconds off the clock, Eli Manning dropped back to pass. Pass the ball he did, right out of bounds, which stopped the clock. Giants fans were extremely pleased with the team's offensive scheme during the first 30 minutes; not so much in the second half, though.

The ugly: This game, and likely the fates of its two teams, changed on consecutive plays. With about 7:30 left in the fourth and the Giants comfortably leading 31-10, Vick connected with tight end Brent Celek for a 65-yard touchdown on a play that Justin Tuck (yes, DE Justin Tuck) was back in pass coverage. With a 21-point lead. In the fourth quarter. I don't know why.

" Were Tom Coughlin and Tom Quinn the only two people in the stadium who didn't know an onside kick was coming there? Yikes." - Ralph Vacchiano, NY Daily News

I saw at least a dozen "watch for the onside kick here" Tweets and texts after Celek's jaunt to the end zone. Guess the New York coaching staff missed those, as there wasn't a New York player within five yards of the kick. 'Twas the beginning of the end for Big Blue on Sunday.

The last eight minutes of this game was a highlight video package of everything that has had Giants fans concerned regarding the team's defense since September. They couldn't prevent big plays when it mattered most, they weren't fast enough and they couldn't wrap up ball carriers.

The inexcusable: New York Giants fans want punter Matt Dodge cut first thing Monday morning, but the final play of the game wasn't all his fault. The rookie punter receiver a high snap and was, according to head coach Tom Coughlin, "unable" to kick the football away from the speedy DeSean Jackson. That group of fans should also remember that Jackson's trip to the end zone involved (what else?) a few missed tackles.

Overall: "Should we call this "Merry Cliff-mas" or "Merry Vick-mas?" a Philadelphia fan said to me immediately following the loss. New York sports fans don't want to read such things, but my buddy and Philly fans like him have every right to be pumped this holiday season. As for the Giants fan reaction heading into Christmas week, well it can be summarized in just one word.

Stunned.

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