Giants.com explores the state of the team following Thursday's loss in Philadelphia:
The Giants secured neither the ball nor a postseason berth on Thursday night in Philadelphia.
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In the penultimate game of the 2016 regular season, the Eagles scored through the air, on the ground, and on defense in a 24-19 victory at Lincoln Financial Field, where the Giants have not won since 2013. Big Blue entered the game needing one win in the final two weeks to lock up a spot in the playoffs.
"We spotted them 14 points. We didn't score touchdowns. We kicked field goals. We turned it over three times," coach Ben McAdoo said. "We didn't handle the ball well enough. They won the penalty battle, and we didn't tackle well enough. I give Philly credit; they played winning football [Thursday night]."
IT WAS OVER WHEN
After leading the Giants from their own 15-yard line to the Eagles 34, Eli Manning had a third-and-10 with 14 seconds remaining in the game. But the quarterback's 39th career game-winning drive wasn't in the cards that night.
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Rather, for the third time in the game, he threw an interception, this one to Terrence Brooks on a pass intended for tight end Will Tye at the 5. The Eagles took over with five seconds left on the clock, and rookie quarterback Carson Wentz kneeled down for the victory.
KEY STAT
Manning threw a franchise-record 63 passes. The Giants are 2-23 when they throw 50 or more passes, including 2-21 when one quarterback throws all of the passes.
AROUND THE LOCKER ROOM
"Obviously, I'm disappointed right now just in the way we played tonight. But obviously we know we can bounce back and still get a win next week and get in the playoffs. We have to go into Washington in a tough environment, but it definitely helps the circumstances." – QB Eli Manning
"I always say defense wins championships and offense wins games. We love being on the field at the end of the game, so any time we have that opportunity, we're going to try to be the best we can be." – S Landon Collins
"That's the most important thing; it's in our hands. We know we had a couple of opportunities in the end to make some plays and we just didn't come up with it. It's not the end of the season; we still have another game left to play. We just have to wait and see how things play out this weekend and go take care of business next weekend." – WR Odell Beckham Jr.
"It was an emotional moment, obviously going back to where my first injury happened about two years ago. I just went to that corner of the end zone, reflected on that moment. Went back to that same timeframe and how it felt and kind of wanted to just pay my respects to that moment and then move on." – WR Victor Cruz
WHAT THE LOSS MEANS FOR THE GIANTS
The Giants still have firm control over their postseason fate. A road victory over the Washington Redskins in the finale on New Year's Day would clinch their first berth since winning Super Bowl XLVI. Meanwhile, they could still clinch this weekend with a full slate of games. They need loss or tie from any of the following teams: Detroit (at Dallas), Green Bay (vs. Minnesota), and Tampa Bay (at New Orleans). They can also clinch with an Atlanta loss (at Carolina). However, any chances of winning the NFC East and the No. 1 seed came to an end on Thursday night as the loss handed the crown to the 12-2 Cowboys.
"I didn't coach well enough and we didn't play well enough," McAdoo said when asked about his post-game locker room speech. "We have to get healthy and make a push against Washington."
WHAT THE WIN MEANS FOR THE EAGLES
The Eagles are eliminated from postseason contention, but don't tell first-year coach Doug Pederson that his team's games are meaningless. With the win, Philadelphia split the season series with the Giants and improved to 5-2 at home and 6-9 overall. Despite their losing record, the Eagles still have a plus-22 scoring differential this season.
"Yeah, in every game we play, in that locker room, those guys have a lot of pride," said Pederson, whose team had lost its previous five games. "We all have a lot of pride in our jobs and what we do. Every game is meaningful, even though we might be out of the playoffs or whatever, division, this and that. But for us, it was a chance to win a division game, number one, and erase that negative feeling we've had these last couple weeks. To do it in front of our crowd I thought was awesome. Our crowd, again, was fabulous, and very energetic. But, yeah, very meaningful for our guys to win this one."
