NFL Update: New York Giants win season finale but lose the playoffs
The Giants said that when they faced the Washington Redskins, their focus would be solely on what goes on in the FedEx field. But unfortunately for the Giants, the events of Lambeau field were more pertinent to New York than their game against the Washington
Redskins.
The New York Giants knew before heading into the game that their fate rested on the outcome of the Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears game as it did on the game at hand. Near the end of the game News Proliferated the FedEx Field that the Packers had won.
The Giants were cheering for the Chicago Bears because New York and Green Bay had been competing for the number 6 seed in the NFC Playoffs.
The Giants won the game but there were no celebrations because the Packers also won and took the playoff spot the Giants were competing for. “This is the most somber winning locker room you'll ever see,”
defensive tackle Barry Cofield said after the game. “And that's because we fell short of our goals. ... Knowing that we won but we didn't fulfil our own destiny and we came up losers on the day, it's definitely weird.”
The Giants stand at 10-6 but won’t be making the playoffs this season either. Looking back at the season, there were at least two games when the Giants could have taken control of their own destiny. Two Weeks ago New York squandered a 20 points lead in the
fourth quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles who have since won the division. In the next week, they faced the Green Bay Packers and were humiliated. The Giants were defeated 45-17 and that defeat, more than anything else is why New York’s season is ending
early.
Linebacker Keith Bulluck said that the Giants troubles were self inflicted. “We were in the driver's seat. And then we were in the passenger seat. And now we're in the back seat,” Bulluck said.
The Giants were completely in control against the Redskins and never once allowed Washington to take the lead. New York’s quarterback Eli Manning led the Giants to an early first quarter lead with a scoring drive in the 10th minutes of the game.
The Redskins almost equalized the scores but a wide field goal attempt left them trailing behind the Giants.
They had another chance to take the lead in the end of the first quarter after Manning was intercepted on New York’s 33. Redskins lost the ball two plays later when quarterback Rex Grossman was sacked by Osi Umenyiora and forced a fumble out of the quarterback.
New York stretched their lead to 10 before the end of the quarter with a touchdown. Washington fought back with a touchdown in the next series. Manning opened the 3rd quarter for New York’s offence with a 92 yards touchdown pass to wide receiver
Mario Manningham. Washington had an opportunity to score again in the start of the fourth quarter but the Giants secondary pulled through and forced another fumble inside their red zone at the 10 yard line.
10 minutes into the final quarter, Grossman scored a touchdown for Washington off a 64 yards deep middle pass to Anthony Armstrong. Neither side scored again till the end of the game. New York won 17-14.
The Redskins fans were somehow upbeat even in defeat due to the fact that news of Green Bay’s victory meant that New York wouldn’t make the playoffs either. “Their fans were all cheering and whatnot,” defensive tackle Barry Cofield said. “That
shows you the state of their team, that they have to cheer about us failing. That's when you have no success; those are the kind of things that excite you.” The Redskins had been eliminated from the playoffs three weeks earlier and finished fourth in
their division with just 6 wins.
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