EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — By the time coach Tom Coughlin finished his postgame talk with the media, the New York Giants' locker room was relatively empty.

The players who stayed spoke in low tones. Their comments were short, their disappointment was obvious.

A year after upsetting the then-unbeaten New England Patriots and hoisting the Super Bowl trophy, the well-rested Giants had to explain how the NFC's top-seeded team was ousted at home in their only playoff game by the sixth-seeded Philadelphia Eagles.

"When you're the No. 1 seed and you lose in the first round, it's absolutely a missed opportunity," defensive tackle Barry Cofield said. "We had home-field advantage throughout. We had two games and we had an easier path than we did last year, and to not get there and lose to a division rival at home is a sour feeling."

The reason the Giants (12-5) dropped a 23-11 decision to the Eagles (11-6-1) was obvious. They didn't make the big plays like they did a year ago in winning the title.

There were no magic moments. No helmet catch by David Tyree. No game-winning touchdown catch by Plaxico Burress. No Burress, as a matter of fact. No sacks against Donovan McNabb.

Make no mistake, the Giants had plenty of chances. They had the ball three times inside the Eagles' 20-yard line and came up with three field goals. During the season, they converted on 50 percent of their red-zone chances.

Two other trips inside the Philadelphia 30 ended with John Carney missing field goals, only his second and third miscues of the season. He had two other regular-season attempts blocked.

"This is pretty much the worst feeling in the world," center Shaun O'Hara said. "You almost wonder if it's better not to make the playoffs, than to exit like we did today."

What killed the Giants was one bad pass by Manning and their failure to capitalize on their offensive chances.

"It was all about missed opportunities," said Manning, who completed 15 of 29 passes for 169 yards and two interceptions.

"We did some good things," he said. "We drove the ball well, we got into their territory. We got into the red zone a number of times and we didn't play our best there. We didn't convert down there for touchdowns, settling for five field-goal attempts.

"When we needed to get something done, get a spark to make a big play, that's when we didn't do our best."

The Giants, whose offense was limited to 16 points by the Eagles in two games here in the past five weeks, had their chances right from the start.

Ahmad Bradshaw returned the opening kickoff 65 yards to the Eagles 35. On the first play from scrimmage, Manning missed a wide-open Steve Smith with a pass that the wind turned into a knuckleball. The Giants still managed to get a first down at the Eagles 11, but the next three plays netted 7 yards and Carney kicked a 22-yard field goal.

The Giants' next possession was a one-play disaster.

After a punt and an unnecessary roughness penalty against rookie Kenny Phillips gave New York possession at its own 13, Manning floated a pass over the head of Domenik Hixon, the man who replaced Burress after he accidentally shot himself in a New York nightclub and was suspended for the rest of the season.

Asante Samuel intercepted the ball and returned it to the 2, setting up a touchdown sneak by McNabb.

The Giants' defense, which intercepted two passes, got New York within 7-5 early in the second quarter when defensive end Justin Tuck forced McNabb into an intentional grounding in the end zone for a safety.

New York then had a chance to take the lead on the ensuing possession, but Carney missed wide right with a 46-yard field-goal attempt.

New York eventually took an 8-7 lead late in the second quarter on a 34-yard field goal by Carney, a kick that came after New York failed to capitalize on a first and 5 from the Eagles 21.

Not only did New York not capitalize, Philadelphia then marched down the field in the final 1:33 and took the lead on a 25-yard field goal by David Akers on the final play of the half.

"I think they just wanted it more than we did," halfback Brandon Jacobs said. "We couldn't match their intensity. Once you have a situation like that and can't take advantage of it, it's pretty bad. When you play against a good team your intensity is supposed to be high, and I don't think it was high enough."

While the Eagles outplayed the Giants in the second half, there were opportunities for New York.

An interception and 17-yard return by defensive tackle Fred Robbins set up a 36-yard field goal by Carney early in the third quarter for an 11-10 lead.

However, the defense made its biggest mistake on the next possession.

With the Eagles facing a third-and-20, McNabb avoided a blitz and found Jason Avant for a 21-yard gain. Not only did Philadelphia keep the ball, but Akers capped the drive with a go-ahead 35-yard field goal.

Carney missed his second long field goal on the next possession and New York never scored again, with the team missing two fourth-down plays of 2 yards or fewer in seeing its season end.

"It wasn't meant to be," Tuck said. "I am just thankful for the season we had, but it's disappointing."