Giants vs. Eagles: 'Kudos & Wet Willies' review

Let's review Sunday's 36-21 loss by the New York Giants to the Philadelphia Eagles in our traditional 'Kudos & Wet Willies' style.

Giants vs. Eagles Hub Page

Visit our Giants-Eagles hub page for everything you need to know about Sunday's game.

Kudos To ...

Hakeem Nicks -- The Giants' star wide receiver finally played like a star wide receiver with nine catches for 142 yards, including a 49-yarder. He entered the game with 12 receptions in four games.

Will Hill -- Played every defensive snap in his first game of the season and recorded 11 tackles, including some impressive work in the open field.

Johnathan Hankins -- The big defensive tackle was impressive in his first action of the season with five tackles and a couple of quarterback pressures. He earned a +3.7 grade from Pro Football Focus. In fact, all of the Giants' defensive tackles played well. Shaun Rogers, Cullen Jenkins and Mike Patterson probably all deserve 'Kudos.'

Ryan Mundy -- This guy is a better player than he was thought to be when the Giants signed him as a free agent. He made 15 tackles Sunday, two of which were for losses.

Steve Weatherford -- The Giants' punter has struggled all season, but kicked the ball beautifully Sunday. He averaged 48.3 yards on seven punts, with only three of those being returned for a measly 24 yards.

Wet Willies To ...

Eli Manning -- What is there to say that hasn't already been said? Three brutal fourth-quarter interceptions on three straight possessions, hardly befitting a player who has been one of the league's best fourth-quarter quarterbacks during his career. Add three intentional grounding penalties and it was a totally amateurish performance from a player who is much better than that.

Brandon Jacobs -- Let's see, a fumbled handoff and a dropped screen pass got running back Da'Rel Scott cut a week ago. Sunday, an untouched Jacobs fumbled a handoff that the Eagles recovered and dropped a screen pass. In extended duty (60 snaps) because of the neck injury suffered by David Wilson Jacobs also proved he has absolutely nothing left in the tank as a running back. He carried 11 times for 37 yards (3.4 yards per carry) and looked painfully slow getting to the hole. He's part of the Giants' long list of players with terrific pasts who can really no longer help them win games now.

Antrel Rolle -- You love the guy's fire and I do admire how the guy has stepped up and been brutally honest about, and with, his team. All the talk has to translate to some sort of results on the field, though, and Sunday Rolle was invisible. He had more penalties (two) than tackles (one), and one of those penalties was a juvenile unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for yanking the helmet of an Eagles' player. Antrel, friend, you can't just talk the talk -- you have to walk the walk.

Trumaine McBride -- McBride had two chances for impact plays Sunday and had both of them go right through his hands. He muffed a perfect Weatherford punt at the 1-yard line, watching it bounce into the end zone for a touchback. He also had what should have been an interception slip through his fingers, turning into a 56-yard gain for DeSean Jackson.

Final Thoughts

Once again there was no pass rush. Once again there was little room to run as the Giants ran 17 times for 53 yards (3.1 yards per carry). Once again there were foolish penalties, unforced turnovers and too much undisciplined football.

Tom Coughlin made two bad decisions, wasting a timeout on a challenge he lost and accepting a penalty whent he Eagles faced a fourth-and-four, pushing them back to third-and-19. Michael Vick turned that into points, running 38 yards to keep a Philly drive alive.

Coughlin has been dealt a bad hand with a roster that isn't very good, but the undisciplined penalties, unforced turnovers and awful play from the quarterback make you wonder if anyone is paying attention to him any longer.

There are a couple of questions the coordinators need to answer as well.

Offensively, the Giants keep trying to run behind Bear Pascoe when they recently signed fullback John Conner, known as a terrific blocker. When is he going to play? Also, why not get Brandon Myers, an awful blocker, off the field in some running situations and use an offensive lineman as an extra tight end?

Defensively, Damontre Moore once again was virtually ignored, playing only five snaps despite the lack of pass rush from any of the established defensive ends. Also, why did it take until midway through the third quarter for the Giants to have Prince Amukamara begin shadowing DeSean Jackson instead of wasting him covering Riley Cooper?

More from Big Blue View

• New York Giants' news, 10/7: Dissecting another debacle
• Coughlin: Eli Manning 'too good a player' to play like this
• Eagles 36, Giants 21: Post-game reaction from Giants' players
• Instant Analysis: Where do the Giants go from here?
• Giants-Eagles Final Score: 0-5 Giants lose to Eagles, 36-21

Grid View

• Photo by Jim O'Connor-USA Today Sports
• Photo by Jim O'Connor-USA Today Sports
• Photo by Jim O'Connor-USA Today Sports
• Star-Ledger photo
• Photo by Robert Deutsch-USA Today Sports
• Photo by Robert Deutsch-USA Today Sports
• Photo by Robert Deutsch-USA Today Sports
• Phot by Robert Deutsch-USA Today Sports
• Photo by Robert Deutsch-USA Today Sports
• Photo by Robert Deutsch-USA Today Sports
• Photo by Jim O'Connor-USA Today Sports