The Giants had one night to celebrate their first victory in more than a month. Monday, it was back to looking at how they nearly extended their losing streak by blowing a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter and needing overtime to knock off the Falcons.
“It almost feels like we lost,” said linebacker Chase Blackburn, the man in the middle now that Antonio Pierce is out with a neck injury. “The defense didn’t help us win.”
Matt Ryan’s 11-yard pass to Tony Gonzalez that tied the score with 28 seconds remaining marked the second straight game in which an opposing offense needed a late touchdown and got one.
It was Atlanta’s third touchdown in four second-half drives — the other one ending in a field goal after Michael Jenkins dropped a touchdown in the back of the end zone on third-and-goal. After that failed third down, the Falcons converted four of their last five, their only failure being an intentionally short pass to set up a fourth-and-1 that was converted.
Sure, the end result was positive when the Giants won the overtime toss and immediately drove 49 yards to set up Lawrence Tynes’ 36-yard game-winning field goal.
But pinning their hopes on one side of a coin is no way to make a playoff push — a goal that could be significantly hampered by taking a leaky defense to Denver to play the Broncos on short rest Thursday night.
“It hurts my heart,” cornerback Terrell Thomas said. “That’s not Giant defense. ... We have to play consistent throughout the game and we’re not doing that.” Continue
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