Thanks to the Bears win, Sunday’s 42-7 win over the Eagles didn’t wind up meaning anything for the Giants other than a likely spot on the historical record as the final opponent of Andy Reid’s run as coach of the Eagles.
Chicago’s win means that the Giants have been eliminated from playoff contention without even needing to wait for the results of games involving the Vikings and Cowboys. Such is the price you pay for losing by a combined 67-14 score in Weeks 15 and 16.
Reid’s expected to be fired in the coming days after a 4-12 season that ended with 11 losses in the team’s final 12 games. Sunday’s loss looked a lot like the other ones that the team suffered through this season as Michael Vick threw an interception and the defense got gashed time and time again by the Giants offense. They gave up 182 yards to the Ahmad Bradshaw/David Wilson duo and Eli Manning threw five touchdowns in a game for the first time in his career.
If Reid is indeed done, he closes out his run with the Eagles with a record of 130-93-1 in the regular season and a 10-9 record in the postseason. The last of those playoff wins came in 2008, though, and the team has not advanced to the tournament in either of the last two seasons. There figure to be a lot of other changes coming to Philadelphia during the offseason and, judging from their effort level on Sunday, a breath of fresh air is necessary.
As for the Giants, Sunday’s performance was a bit too little a bit too late for the team. They finish with the same 9-7 record they had last year, but the circumstances elsewhere in the league were less forgiving and their title defense is officially over.