By PAUL SCHWARTZ
Last updated: 9:12 am
October 14, 2008
Posted: 3:15 am
October 14, 2008
CLEVELAND - They had not lost a game in so long - 10 months, to be exact - that the Giants did not remember exactly how to respond to such disappointment.
"It's humbling," Antonio Pierce said.
There is no need to worry any more about the Giants dealing with all the accolades, praise and assessments that they are the best team in the NFL. Not after last night, when they came back to earth with a resounding thud in a thorough 35-14 loss to the Browns.
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Consider this a reminder of what can happen when all sorts of football rules are broken. After 108 consecutive passes this season without an interception, Eli Manning threw three of them, the last one, with 8:07 remaining, a terrible pass intended for Amani Toomer that cornerback Eric Wright picked and returned 94 yards for a touchdown. Manning gave chase and made a futile dive at Wright as he sped on by and then pounded the grass with his right fist, a fitting slice of what this game was all about.
"Obviously we're disappointed we didn't come out and play the way we've been playing," Manning said. "We haven't been turning the ball over, I haven't been throwing interceptions and you turn the ball over three times that's just not the formula for winning games."
Just like that, the joyride the Giants were on came to an end. They were the last unbeaten team in the NFC. Now the Giants (4-1) have their first defeat and gone is their incredible road winning streak. The Giants had won 11 straight games away from home.
"We make no excuses," coach Tom Coughlin said. "We lost a game that we didn't play well enough to win."
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