EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- A few thoughts on the New York Giants' season-ending 34-26 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at MetLife Stadium:
What it means: The Giants finish the season 6-10, one game worse than last year and their worst record since 2004, when they were 6-10 in Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning's first season with the team.
Stock Watch: Giants' secondary, down. The Giants have been playing for some time with three of their top four cornerbacks on injured reserve. But Sunday's game against an Eagles team that plays offense considerably better than any other team the Giants played in December was a reminder that they still have a lot of work to do on defense. Eagles receivers were open all day against Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie & Co., and simply waiting for everyone else to get healthy won't be a sufficient offseason game plan.
Airing it out: Manning threw 53 passes Sunday, completing 28 of them for 429 yards and a touchdown. Two Giants receivers -- rookie Odell Beckham Jr. and Rueben Randle -- went over 150 yards. Manning this season set career highs in completions, attempts and completion percentage. He reached 4,000 passing yards for the fourth time in his career, and he reached the 30-touchdown mark for only the second time in his career. He also finishes the season with 14 interceptions -- a little more than half of last year's league-leading and career-high total of 27.
Game ball: Today's game ball is a season team MVP award, and it goes to Beckham. He had 12 catches for 185 yards and a 63-yard touchdown Sunday to run his season totals to 91 catches, 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns in only 12 games. He set an NFL record Sunday for the most receiving yards ever by a player in his first 12 games. There has been little doubt since Week 7 that he has been the best Giants player on the field in every game, and if you want to talk about "value," he has given Giants fans (and the world at large) a reason to watch otherwise meaningless Giants games for two months now. A special player whom many Giants fans will be very excited about heading into next year.
What's next: The Giants have missed the playoffs for the third year in a row and the fifth time in their last six seasons. They embark upon an offseason in which they're likely to overhaul their defense the way they overhauled their offense last year, with the biggest immediate decisions to be made about coordinator Perry Fewell and free-agent defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. They have a lot of work to do.
