Flagfest: Penalties cost Giants

By Samuel Groshans  |   Tuesday, September 12, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

New York Giants
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The New York Giants steamrolled the Indianapolis Colts defense all evening long on Sunday. New York piled up 433 yards in total offense and 186 yards in rushing offense. Eli Manning had a higher quarterback rating than his brother Peyton and threw two touchdowns. The defense held the Colts to just two touchdowns and four field goals. So that means the Giants won, right?

Wrong.

Costly penalties and ill-timed turnovers ended up costing the Giants the opportunity for a very impressive win. Ten penalties, including two very big ones in the last four minutes, can be blamed as the culprits in the Giants' meltdown.

Offensive drives were often stalled early in the game because of holding penalties, and even a personal foul. Two such occurrences happened on one drive, and were pinned on one player. First, there was a 22-yard run by Brandon Jacobs negated thanks to a penalty on Plaxico Burress; later, another run was negated by a low-block personal foul, also by Burress.

Burress would repent for his mistakes, at least somewhat, with a pair of incredible catches, one of which resulted in a touchdown.

The penalties, however, did not end with Burress. Throughout the game there were a variety of holds, false starts and a delay of game. There were a couple of drives in particular that the Giants either could have saved or finished it up in a few plays less had they not committed penalties.

The absolute worst came in the last four minutes, though. On a third-and-three from deep inside Giant territory, Eli Manning found Tim Carter for an apparent 19-yard pickup. There was a flag down, though, and the play would be called back due to offensive pass interference. (It's worth noting that the replays show Carters left elbow coming up, but not apparently hitting or interfering with Nick Harper of the Colts, who would slip and fall soon after). On the next play, now a third-and-long from their nine, Eli threw a ball that was too long for Amani Toomer, and it was intercepted. The Colts would soon tack on another field goal and leave the Giants with only a minute and a handful of seconds to score a touchdown.

The Giants were driving, albeit in a very ugly and time consuming fashion, and had made it to the Colts' 49-yard line with 17 seconds to play. While it's improbable that they would have scored a touchdown with that little amount of time left, what happened next eradicated any chance of it. The offense was hustling to the line to set up and spike the ball, when Shaun O'Hara snapped it and started the play. Apparently, not everyone was set, and a flag was thrown. The Giants were penalized for an illegal snap and 10 seconds were run off the clock, leaving just seven to work with. Eli's next pass would sail harmlessly out of bounds, though there did to appear to be a lot of contact against Burress down the sideline.

On the positive side, though, the defense committed no penalties and put good pressure on Peyton. The secondary, while dropping two sure interceptions, played well and did come up with a pick. Offensively the Giants did move the ball well, and Eli looked good as he completed 20-of-34 passes for two touchdowns and a higher rating than his brother. Tiki Barber proved that he hasn't lost a step as he ran for 110 yards on just 18 carries. Brandon Jacobs was impressive as well, running for 54 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. When all is said and done, though, it was still a loss, and an ugly one.

Giants fans are used to their team being penalized a lot, but not usually with such large and hurtful errors. They're used to false starts and holds, not personal fouls and offensive pass interference. While most fans probably would have been able to handle this loss had it been a clean victory for the Colts, this game will leave a bitter taste in many mouths.

Get more on the New York Giants at RealFootball365.com
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