Giants play improved ball in second half but lost to Eagles again

PHILADELPHIA — The Giants still haven’t won in Philadelphia since 2013.

Final score this time: Eagles 33, Giants 25.

The Giants cut a 17-point halftime deficit to two, then fell behind by 12, but they still had a chance to tie it after taking over with 1:10 remaining. A 20-yard pass from Tyrod Taylor to Darren Waller on fourth-and-8 got the ball to the Eagles’ 26, but a scrambling Taylor’s final desperation pass, which was intended for Saquon Barkley, was intercepted in the end zone by Kelee Ringo as time expired.

“They played well, give them credit,’’ Giants coach Brian Daboll said. “It came down to the end and we didn’t get it done.’’

Said Barkley: “It [stinks]. Everyone’s frustrated, no one’s happy. I’m proud of the guys, they fought. We just came up short.

“We know who we are. We’re a team that’s always going to fight. We’re never going to give up. Sometimes we don’t get the job done. We have to find ways to win games. That’s the truth. And that’s all of us. I don’t believe in pointing fingers. I’ll watch film and see what I can do better.’’

Facing a 20-3 deficit, Daboll replaced Tommy DeVito with Taylor to start the second half, and he got plenty of help from the defense and special teams as the Giants (5-10) got back in the game.

On the second-half kickoff, Isaiah Simmons hit Boston Scott, forced a fumble and recovered it himself to set the Giants up at the Eagles’ 14, and Barkley’s 7-yard touchdown run brought the Giants within 20-10. Adoree’ Jackson’s 76-yard pick-6 and Barkley’s two-point conversion run made it 20-18 with nine seconds left in the third quarter.

D’Andre Swift’s 5-yard touchdown run and Jake Elliott’s 44-yard field goal made it 30-18 with 6:04 remaining, but a 69-yard touchdown pass from Taylor to Darius Slayton brought the Giants within 30-25 with 5:22 to play.

“He’s a really good player. He made some really good plays, some cutback plays, some bounce-out plays,’’ Daboll said of Swift. “Talked about him before the game. He’s a good football player.’’

Elliott’s fourth field goal, a 43-yarder, gave the Eagles a 33-25 lead with 1:10 left.

“Just trying to spark the team,’’ Daboll said of the quarterback change. “I don’t have too much else to say. Just trying to spark the team.’’

Said Barkley, “We knew at halftime about the quarterback change. I’ll let Dabes speak on that, he’s the one who made the decision. We got trust in Tyrod. It definitely created a little spark when Tyrod came in. I believe in both those guys. I tip my hat to both of them; both of them come out to compete every single time. Tyrod made some plays for us. I don’t think it was a negative thing on Tommy. I didn’t see it like that.

“We didn’t do what we needed to win this game. Hats off to Philly.’’

The Giants traveled to Philadelphia hoping to win there for the first time since 2013, and each team’s first possession of the game was pivotal as the Eagles took the lead for good.

The Giants punted after their first possession netted one yard. Eagles return man Britain Covey returned the punt 54 yards to the Giants’ 13. Two plays later, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, courtesy of the tush-push, was in the end zone.

But the tush-push was the least of the Giants’ issues on this Christmas evening.

Mason Crosby, who made his NFL debut in 2007 and became the Giants’ fourth kicker of the season, got them on the board with a 52-yard field goal that made it 7-3.

Hurts found wide receiver DeVonta Smith in the middle of the field and Smith did the rest, scoring a 36-yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 17-3 lead. Elliott’s field goal as time expired in the first half made it 20-3.

The Eagles (11-4) may not have solved all their problems on this night, as Christmas music blared in the stadium during timeouts, but they certainly know this: They are considerably better than this group of Giants.

So much for Philadelphia’s three-game losing streak, in which the Eagles lost to San Francisco, Dallas and Seattle.

And, perhaps, so much for Hurts saying of his team, “I don’t think we’re committed enough.”

It had been three years since the Eagles lost three straight games, back in the early weeks of the 2021 season. But there have been questions in Philadelphia. The Eagles have been portrayed as a team in turmoil. To which Daboll basically said, humbug.

“They’re 10-4,” Daboll said in the days leading up to the game. “They’re pretty good. They are still real good. Really good skill players, good quarterback, good offensive line, good running back, got a lot of talent on their team.”

Now the Giants will play out the string on another season. They have games remaining against the Rams and Eagles, both at MetLife Stadium.

Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.