PHILADELPHIA -- The New York Giants showed some life but still dropped a 27-24 heartbreaker to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field. Their season is quickly getting flushed away.
What can they take from this latest loss, their third in three games this season? Here were the positives and negatives at first glance without the benefit of film review.
UP
S Landon Collins -- He was once again a force. This is becoming a weekly thing. Collins had nine total tackles and did his best to turn around the Giants’ season with a game-turning forced fumble in the fourth quarter. What really stands out about Collins is his tackling ability. He may be the best tackler in the NFL right now. When Collins hits somebody, they are going down right there. He was again impressive Sunday afternoon.
CB Janoris Jenkins -- He did close to nothing throughout the week leading up to the game because of an ankle injury. But Jenkins returned to the field Sunday and played a good chunk (65 of 76) snaps while limiting Eagles wide receiver Alshon Jeffery. Jenkins allowed four catches for just 38 yards on six targets in the contest, according to Pro Football Focus. He also had two passes defended. It was a gutty effort from the Pro Bowl cornerback.
K Aldrick Rosas -- Lost in the demoralizing loss was that Rosas nailed a clutch 41-yard field goal after a bad snap that could’ve been the game winner if the defense held up its end of the bargain. Rosas is proving he can handle the pressure. Long-snapper Zak DeOssie mentioned after the contest that he sees Rosas growing right in front of his eyes. This is one of the few positives to come from the first three games of the season.
Honorable Mention: WR Sterling Shepard, LB Calvin Munson
DOWN
CB Eli Apple -- His early-season struggles have been front and center. The second-year cornerback was called for two pass interference calls in the second half Sunday. They cost the Giants 77 yards. Apple was also involved in the last-second pass to Jeffery that set up the game-winning field goal. He’s going to need to do a better job tracking and playing the football. It has been a problem so far this season and was again troubling Sunday afternoon.
RB Paul Perkins -- It has been a rough start for the second-year running back. He rushed for 22 yards on nine carries and actually raised his yards per carry to 2.1 yards this season. While running lanes are often hard to come by in this Giants offense, there were a few plays early in the game where Perkins didn’t capitalize on the available space. He is struggling right now.
LT Ereck Flowers -- The Giants were able to hide him most of the afternoon by getting the ball out of Eli Manning's hand at near-record speed (1.86 seconds). That’s around a full second faster than usual. It still wasn’t enough to hide two costly Flowers mistakes -- one a missed block that ruined the fourth-and-goal run at the end of the first half and a costly holding (more like chokehold and takedown) that crushed the Giants’ final drive. It’s to the point where I almost feel bad for Flowers being put in a position he’s unequipped to handle.
Dishonorable Mention: Ben McAdoo, S Darian Thompson, P Brad Wing