Giants give it away to Seahawks, 36-25

How deflating was Sunday's loss to the Seahawks? So much so that it apparently caused some amnesia.

Tom Coughlin called the aftermath of the 36-25 defeat, in which the Giants were five yards away from a third straight comeback win, "about as miserable a feeling as we've had around here in a long time."

You probably don't have to be a lifelong Giants fan -- just a 10-month-old, really -- to recall a loss that trumped this one in terms of significance and disappointment. This was, after all, only the second home game the Giants have played since their debacle against the Eagles last December.

But it speaks to the heightened expectations of this team, particularly after the two come-from-behind efforts on the road, that this home loss left them feeling so . . . lost.

"It's embarrassing," defensive end Dave Tollefson said. "As good as we've been playing the last couple of weeks, to come out here and lay an egg, embarrassing is the only way I can think of it."

The bugaboo of last season -- turnovers -- cost the Giants this game. The biggest one came just when the Giants (3-2) were poised to take a late lead.

Trailing by four points, they had first-and-goal from the 5 with 1:27 remaining before a false-start penalty by Will Beatty pushed them back to the 10. Eli Manning tried to hit Victor Cruz on an in route, but Cruz slipped as he made his cut. The ball tipped off his hands, bounced off defender Kam Chancellor and landed in the arms of Brandon Browner, who returned it 94 yards for a touchdown to give Seattle (2-3) an 11-point lead.

"I got hit and it got kind of bobbled up in the air and I knew it was all downhill from there," Cruz said.

It was the fourth of five turnovers for the Giants, who had three turnovers in their previous three games, all wins. Manning threw his third interception of the game to end a desperation drive with 15 seconds left.

Cruz seemed to be in the middle of just about every big play in the fourth quarter. It began when he made an incredible catch on a 68-yard touchdown pass to give the Giants their first lead of the game at 22-19 with 12:37 remaining.

On third-and-13 from the Giants' 32, Manning uncorked a deep pass down the right seam for Cruz, who was double-covered by Chancellor and Richard Sherman. Chancellor tipped the ball away -- or at least thought he did before Cruz was able to tap it in the air with his right hand and make a one-handed catch at the 25. He ran the rest of the way into the end zone without a Seattle player near him and performed his salsa touchdown dance. A two-point conversion run by Ahmad Bradshaw put the Giants up by three.

Cruz's hands weren't as golden on the Giants' next drive, as he fumbled after a 5-yard reception and the Seahawks recovered at the Giants' 25. Charlie Whitehurst threw three incompletions, but Steven Hauschka kicked a 43-yard field goal to tie the score at 22.

The Giants drove to the Seahawks' 8 but had to settle for a field goal and a 25-22 lead with 4:49 remaining.

That's when Whitehurst channeled his inner Eli Manning -- the quarterback who led the NFL in fourth-quarter passer rating after four games -- and led Seattle on an 80-yard drive in seven plays. The touchdown that put the Seahawks ahead for good came on a blown coverage by Antrel Rolle and Aaron Ross, both of whom jumped on an underneath route, allowing Doug Baldwin to be wide open for a 27-yard scoring pass.

Ross wholeheartedly agreed that was a bad time for bad communication. "It's shocking the way we played as a team, as a unit," he said.

The Seahawks weren't exactly flawless themselves. They had two turnovers inside the Giants' 15, both on fumbles. And Ross had an interception with 51 seconds left in the second quarter that set up a 19-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Hakeem Nicks that tied the score at 14 at halftime.

But the prevailing sense from the Giants' locker room was that they had given the ball away five times, and given the game away with it.

"It's a shame to lose a game with that type of play," Manning said of the interception return for a touchdown. "I'd rather get outplayed than it be one of those games where we had a chance but didn't make the play."