It cost about $1.6 billion to build the gleaming, ghost-free new stadium. And in their first meeting there, the Eagles gave the Giants a fresh new scar. After falling behind, 31-10, early in the fourth quarter, the Eagles staged a furious comeback, scoring three touchdowns to tie the game. With scant seconds left, the Giants were forced to punt the ball one last time.
You know the rest. Punter Matt Dodge inexplicably kicked the ball right to DeSean Jackson. The Eagles' scintillating little big man raced 65 yards to give the Eagles a 38-31 victory as time expired. They scored four touchdowns in less than nine minutes to take a one-game lead in the NFC East race and send the Giants spinning toward another late-season swoon.
That play will be on everyone's mind Sunday night when the Eagles return to the Meadowlands. But instead of haunting the Giants, that comeback and all it represented will weigh more heavily on the Eagles.
It will be a bitter reminder of when the Eagles were the kind of team that could summon a fourth-quarter comeback and win a hard-fought game. It will stand as a high-water mark for a team that has been slipping backward ever since. That comeback will haunt the Eagles because, instead of being a launching pad toward greatness, it turned out to be a mirage.
The three-plus quarters that preceded the comeback have proven to be a more accurate glimpse of these Eagles: Michael Vick completed 13 of 20 passes for 87 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, and was sacked three times. Jeremy Maclin fumbled the ball away. The defense allowed four touchdown passes and couldn't get off the field on third downs.
