How many more shots to the gut can this team take? With seven minutes left, the Giants took a 22-21 lead and were a solid defensive stand away from winning a huge game. But, the Eagles marched down the field in only 8 plays and took the lead. With just less than three minutes left, the Giants came onto the field needing to go 80 yards for the win.

And that is when disaster struck. The Eagles showed blitz and Eli Manning didn’t seem to recognize it, a fact his coach pointed out in a rare critique of his QB. Eli got hit and the ball sailed high up into the air. Tiki Barber tried to knock it down, but completely whiffed and Trent Cole caught it and raced into the end zone for the touchdown. It went from 22-21 Giants to 36-22 Eagles in the span of about 20 seconds.

The Giants are currently the last wild card team from the NFC and while they do not control their own destiny, it would take a string of extraordinary events to knock them out if they win their final two games. But, at this point does anyone expect this team to do anything in the playoffs? They were 6-2 and have now collapsed, going 1-5 down the stretch. Then again, maybe they just weren’t very good to start with.

Photo of Sheldon Brown hitting Eli Manning by AP/Julie Jacobson