Giants meander clock, hope away in painful final seconds vs. Falcons

With 1:55 remaining in Monday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons, the New York Giants were a significant long shot to pull out the win.

Giorgio Tavecchio had just booted a 56-yard field goal to push the Falcons lead to two possessions at 23-12.

But the stagnant Giants offense found life, moving the ball 71 yards to the Falcons one-yard line, highlighted by a 58-yard pass from Eli Manning to Sterling Shepard and a red zone toss to Rhett Ellison to set the Giants up near the goal line.

When the Giants lined up for first-and-goal with 46 seconds left, the options were clear. Score on the play or stop the clock. This would dictate a pass to one of of the several playmakers at Manning’s disposal, whether it be Shepard, Odell Beckham or Saquon Barkley out of the backfield.

What did Pat Shurmur’s Giants dial up? A Manning sneak behind an offensive line that has failed him all season. The result was Manning getting stuffed for no gain.

With the clock ticking, the Giants hustled to snap the ball on second-and-goal with 28 seconds remaining. What did they do this time? Another failed sneak, of course.

By the time Beckham caught a touchdown from Manning with five seconds remaining on third down, the game was out of reach. Barkley converted the two-point attempt to cut the deficit to 23-20, but at that point it was moot.

There was no hope for the Giants to convert an onside kick and score again, something that would have been a long shot, but certainly possible with 30-40 seconds in their pockets.

In a season full of moments to drive Giants fans mad, this was one of them.