PHILADELPHIA — Adding injury to insult is no way to go through a Sunday afternoon.
It happened to the Giants, as they were routed by the Eagles 34-10 at Lincoln Financial Field and lost one of the young players they want to take a look at, when offensive lineman Matt Peart went down and out in the first half.
Peart’s stay as the starting right tackle did not last long. He was moved into a starting role when Nate Solder on Saturday was put on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Peart did not make it to halftime, as he went down with 4:31 remaining in the first quarter when his left knee buckled on a run by Saquon Barkley for no gain. Peart walked off the field aided by trainers and did not return to the game, with the injury called a sprained knee. Korey Cunningam replaced Peart.
This likely ends a terrible second NFL season for Peart. He was unable to beat out Solder back in the summer for the right tackle job and at times was not a part of the playing rotation. He started four games at left tackle when Andrew Thomas was injured, then went back to the bench, until he split time with Solder in last week’s loss to the Cowboys.
The players on defense for the Giants have to be growing frustrated with the ineptitude of their teammates on the other side of the ball. Safety Julian Love said, “I try not to deal with what’s going on with the offense. I really just try and be the best I can be on defense, special teams, and where I’m on the field.”
Devontae Booker (6-27) was again more effective than Barkley (15-32) as the Giants ran for 58 yards in the first half and finished with 84 yards for the game. Booker said he thought the ground game was doing fine.
“I believe the run was working,’’ Booker said. “We went away from that somehow. I just believe if we kept running it it would have been great.’’
There was a strange sequence in the third quarter. A 5-yard pass from Jalen Hurts to DeVonta Smith was ruled a touchdown but upon review, it was determined Smith did not get both feet inbounds and the change was made to an incomplete pass. Referee Land Clark then announced that the play was under further review. After a few minutes, the initial ruling was upheld and the Eagles had their touchdown.
“It was really just a communication lapse on our part,’’ Walt Anderson, the NFL senior vice president of officiating, told a pool reporter after the game. “We originally were seeing a heel down. So, the original communication between the replay booth and the referee was that it looked like it was going to be an expedited review. And I know the referees are trying to make those announcements quickly. By the time we could say there are additional angles, he had already made that announcement. And then we said, no, we’re going to stop play and look at this.’’