Giants-Eagles ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’ review: How to wreck a feel-good story edition

The New York Giants turned what looked like a feel-good moment into another bewildering defeat on Monday when they lost in overtime to the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-17. Let’s look at the Giants’ ninth straight defeat through the lens of our traditional ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’ review.

Kudos to ...

Eli Manning — First-half Manning was fun to watch, 11 of 19 for 179 yards and two touchdowns. The ball was coming out quickly. There were deep strikes of 55 and 42 yards to Darius Slayton, the 55-yarder for a touchdown, that showed the 38-year-old still has plenty of arm. Unfortunately, the Giants weren’t able to do anything offensively in the second half and what could have been a feel-good victory slipped away. I’m guessing many out there will think this should be knocked down to a “Kwillie,” but I’m comfortable with it.

Antoine Bethea — The 35-year-old was a tackling machine Monday night. He finished with 13 tackles, including some in key spots. He broke up a potential touchdown pass in the end zone and deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage that nearly became an interception.

Markus Golden — Yes, his sack of Carson Wentz was on a play where he was unblocked. Golden, though, spent much of the night in the Eagles’ backfield and ended up with four hits on Philadelphia’s quarterback.

Oshane Ximines — A week after inexplicably playing only 17 snaps, the rookie edge rusher had two sacks, more than doubling his season total from 1.5 to 3.5, and a pair of quarterback hits in 28 snaps.

DeAndre Baker — I’m going to have to watch the game again to be sure, but at first blush this seemed like the rookie cornerback’s best game of the season. Sure, the Eagles were depleted at wide receiver and that probably helped, but Baker was in good position all night. He had three pass breakups, including an impressive one at the goal line where he flicked the ball away with his left hand while avoiding a pass interference penalty. Maybe it’s not a coincidence that the Giants seemed to be in man-to-man coverage much of the night.

Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

Darius Slayton — Slayton had become Daniel Jones’ favorite target in recent weeks. Monday, he and Manning quickly formed a connection. Slayton had catches of 35, 42 and 55 yards in the first half, two of those for touchdowns, and finished with 8 receptions for a career-high 154 yards. He has 28 receptions over his past four games. That’s pretty good value for a fifth-round pick.

Wet Willies to ...

Nate Solder — How bad was Solder’s night? He gave up two sacks in the second half, both on plays where he actually had help from a tight end. On one of those he actually fell over the feet of Scott Simonson. Solder also probably cost the Giants a touchdown by being unable to handle Josh Sweat on an attempted flea flicker, leaving a harassed Manning to shovel the ball to Saquon Barkley to avoid a sack.

Sam Beal — I liked the fact that with Corey Ballentine (concussion) out the Giants moved Janoris Jenkins into the slot and let Beal and Baker handle the outside cornerback responsibilities. Unfortunately for the Giants, when the Eagles had to have a touchdown at the end of regulation and in overtime they targeted Beal. The 2018 third-round Supplemental Draft pick wasn’t up to the task.

On the Eagles’ game-tying drive, Beal committed a third-and-10 illegal contact penalty that got the Philadelphia drive started. Later in the drive, he gave up a 22-yard pass to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. He also committed a declined holding penalty on the play. He was also targeted for a 12-yard completion that gave the Eagles first-and-goal at the 1-yard line.

Lorenzo Carter — One measly tackle in 44 snaps. This is the player the Giants were counting on to become their dominant EDGE guy this season, and it’s not happening. Carter has just one sack and two quarterback hits in the last five weeks. Maybe he is mis-cast with the Giants seeming to play more four-man fronts in recent weeks. I’m not sure about that. I am sure the Giants expected more production.

Kwillie to ...

Leonard Williams — Just when I thought Williams was having a nice game he goes and gets a foolish roughing the passer penalty for nailing Wentz with a late and all-too-blatant elbow. He did have five tackles, one for loss, and was impactful in run defense. Still, not enough as a pass rusher, though.