PHILADELPHIA — Even when the Eagles messed up Monday, they came away with points in their 33-25 victory at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Giants could not take advantage of a mental gaffe by Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who ran for 9 yards and easily could have run out of bounds on the Giants’ 7-yard line with 4 seconds remaining in the first half.
Instead, Hurts on the right sideline cut back inside and was tackled by Bobby Okereke and Azeez Ojulari, inbounds.
The Eagles were out of timeouts and the clock should have expired, with the Giants trailing 17-3.
Instead, a flag was thrown because, in the view of the officials, Okereke stayed down on Hurts too long, trying to let the clock expire.
Okereke was penalized for delay of game. The penalty stopped the clock, and Jake Elliott hit a 21-yard field goal for a 20-3 Eagles lead at the break.
Was Okerke caught trying to prevent Hurts from getting up?
“No shot,’’ Okereke said. “I was thinking about punching the ball out. I thought I had it out, that’s why I was fighting for it so much.
“I was joking to the ref, this is what I do, I punch the ball out, I got four forced fumbles on the year. He was running to the sideline, and he cut back so I thought it was gonna be in play, just trying to punch the ball out, make a play for my team. They made the call they made.’’
After Tyrod Taylor hit TE Darren Waller for 20 yards with 26 seconds remaining, Waller was leveled by CB Kelee Ringo.
“Got my back smoked,’’ Waller said.
Waller tried to get off the field but could not and tried to get back to the line of scrimmage.
By the time Taylor was able to spike the ball to stop the clock, just 5 seconds were left.
“I was trying to get off the field and they were waving me back, so I just ran to get in position to clock it,’’ Waller said. “That’s all you can ask for, a chance at the end to tie the game up, you just got to do something with it and at the end of the day we didn’t.’’
At 5-10, the Giants own the ignominy of double-digit losses in eight of the past 10 seasons. … Mason Crosby, wearing an unusual number for a kicker — the No. 21 jersey made famous by Tiki Barber — hit a 52-yard field goal in the first quarter.
Crosby, 39, had a franchise-record 1,918 points in 16 years with the Packers. These were his first points for another team.
Rookie CB Deonte Banks went out late in the third quarter with a shoulder injury. … LG Justin Pugh was shaken up and had to come off the field for a few plays in the second quarter.
He was replaced by Mark Glowinski.
DT Dexter Lawrence was able to practice only one day this past week, on a limited basis, because of a lingering hamstring issue that redacted his snap count the past two games and caused him to miss the 10-7 victory over the Patriots.
Despite getting so little work to prepare for the game, Lawrence was able to make the start versus the Eagles.
Read more
