Giants @ Eagles

[Vin+ 3,121]

If the Philadelphia Eagles are going to unseat the Super Bowl champion New York Giants as NFC East champs, they are going to need improved play from Michael Vick.

 

Vick and the Eagles have produced a league-high 12 turnovers but can still maintain at least a share of the division lead Sunday night when they host a Giants team that features NFL passing yards leader Eli Manning.

 

These teams have 2-1 records along with Dallas, which hosts Chicago on Monday night.

 

New York, however, has scored 94 points while the other co-leaders are at the bottom of the league with 47 each.

 

Philadelphia's 12 turnovers are three more than any other NFL team, and Vick has been the primary culprit with six interceptions to tie for the league's highest total along with three lost fumbles.

 

"I'm very concerned about the turnovers," Vick said. "Being the competitor that I am, I understand that you have to protect the football. I cut back on the interceptions last week and had two fumbles but it's something that I know I can get corrected."

 

Vick's woes caused coach Andy Reid to reiterate that the former Pro Bowler would remain the starter. There's still major concern about the pounding Vick is taking after he was sacked five times in last Sunday's 27-6 loss at Arizona.

 

"He's taken a lot of hits," Reid said. "Too many hits. So, we've got to make sure that we try to fix that."

 

It hasn't helped that tackle Jason Peters has been lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles and his replacement, King Dunlap, sat out last week's game due to a hamstring problem.

 

A patchwork offensive line and turnover-prone quarterback figure to be problems against the vaunted Giants defensive line, although New York has totaled just six sacks this season.

 

The Giants have lost six of their last seven meetings with the Eagles and are wary that Philadelphia will sort out its problems this week.

 

"It is going to be a huge challenge going down there," defensive end Justin Tuck said. "They are going to be really fired up. That's what you live for. That's why you play the game. You get excited for matchups like this."

 

While Vick took a beating last Sunday, New York was able to gain extra rest since last Thursday's 36-7 rout at Carolina. Manning completed 27 of 35 passes for 288 yards, bringing his NFL-leading total to 1,011.

 

"Right now, Eli is playing as good as any quarterback in the National Football League," Reid said. "I mean, these last few games, he's been on fire."

 

The Giants' performance was even more impressive since receivers Hakeem Nicks and Domenik Hixon and starting running back Ahmad Bradshaw were all out.

 

Andre Brown gained a career-high 113 yards and scored twice in his first NFL start in place of Bradshaw, who has returned to practice this week. Coach Tom Coughlin said Bradshaw will start against the Eagles.

 

Nicks, who caught 14 passes for 237 yards in the first two games, expects to return from a foot injury. He took notice of how Cardinals star Larry Fitzgerald victimized the Eagles for nine catches and 114 yards and one score last week.

 

"Arizona had a real good game, but Philly is a good team and they've got a good defense," Nicks said. "They've got two Pro Bowl corners. We've just got to look forward to competing and those guys, they know us, we know them, we're rivals, so it's gonna be competitive."

 

The intensity of this rivalry has featured another round of trash talk between Eagles running back LeSean McCoy and Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora after they engaged in a war of words last year.

 

New York will be more concerned about slowing down McCoy on the field. McCoy has averaged 104.0 yards with a per-carry average of 5.9 over the last four meetings.

 

Although turnovers have hampered the Eagles, they have still proven to be explosive with 16 plays of at least 20 yards to tie for fourth in the league. The Giants are third in that category with 18.

 

"It's two good football teams that kind of know each other really well," Vick said. "I think it's going to come down to execution but it's going to be a great game."

 

The Giants have some concerns in the secondary. Cornerback Corey Webster intends to play with a cast on his broken right hand and safety Antrel Rolle has been limited since hurting his knee last week.

 

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press.

Edited October 1, 2012 by Vin

[Dutch 874]

Sucks Nicks is out... Wanted to see that CB and WR match up. It's always later this year though. This game can go both ways. More riding in the Giants favor though because of the Eagles struggling on the offensive side of the ball but I think (hope ) Marty and Andy make the necessary adjustments on offense with out struggling O-line. Run the ball more and design plays to get the ball out Vicks hands faster. I feel way better having our best receiver back, Jeremy Maclin. I think my Eagles take this one.

 

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23

[Vin+ 3,121]

Jeremy Maclin (hip) is active for Sunday Night Football against the Giants.

 

Maclin got in full practices on Thursday and Friday, and is Rotoworld's 17th ranked receiver for Week 4.

 

Inactive for the Eagles are WR Riley Cooper, RB Dion Lewis, S Colt Anderson, LB Akeem Jordan, OT King Dunlap, OT Nate Menkin and DE Vinny Curry. Offseason signee Demetress Bell will take Dunlap's place at left tackle.

 

 

 

Ahmad Bradshaw (neck) is active for Sunday Night Football against the Eagles.

 

As expected. Bradshaw got in a week of full practices after his latest injury held him out in Week 3, but we don't have high hopes for him against the Eagles' No. 17 run defense, and expect a timeshare with Andre Brown. Bradshaw is Rotoworld's No. 30 back for Week 4, checking in one spot ahead of Brown.

 

Inactive for the Giants are WR Hakeem Nicks, OT David Diehl, CB Jayron Hosley, LB Keith Rivers, DE Adewale Ojomo, TE Adrien Robinson and OG Mitch Petrus. Domenik Hixon is "starting" in Nicks' place, but Ramses Barden is the better fantasy bet.

[SteVo+ 3,702]

If we play a good game of football but lose to the Giants because they're better, I'll take it. If we come out and look like crap again, committing stupid penalties and multiple turnovers, then we risk going into freefall mode. I'll predict a happy medium. Eagles turn it over twice and lose.

 

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17

[SteVo+ 3,702]

So that's what it feels like to not turn the ball over.

[CampinWithaMissingPerson 2,025]

Vick just called Andy Reid out

 

"I don't believe in icing the kicker."

[BwareDWare94 723]

What in the fuck was Tom Coughlin thinking? Tynes couldn't hit a 54 yarder in the thin air in Denver, for fuck's sake. At last get in the forty range if you even watch a chance.

 

Fifteen fucking seconds! Conservativism in football more often than not results in a loss. The Giants just proved that.

 

Good game, Iggles.

[Thanatos 2,847]

Tynes had plenty of leg on the one that missed, obviously, he had more than a chance of hitting a 54-yarder.

[BwareDWare94 723]

Tynes had plenty of leg on the one that missed, obviously, he had more than a chance of hitting a 54-yarder.

 

Doesn't matter. It was the wrong decision to not try get 5-10 more yards, then spike it.

[Dutch 874]

Doesn't matter. It was the wrong decision to not try get 5-10 more yards, then spike it.

 

Not necessarily. Granted we didn't have a sack all game but if we would have gotten a sack on that play, the Giants might not had the opportunity to kick it with no time outs left.

Edited October 1, 2012 by dutchff7

[BwareDWare94 723]

Not necessarily. Granted we didn't have a sack all game but if we would have gotten a sack on that play, the Giants might not had the opportunity to kick it with no time outs left.

 

Eli would have thrown it away before he'd ever gotten sacked. Come on, now. You and I know. Giants fans know. Not that I can criticize Tom Coughlin openly since he's a 2 time Super Bowl winner, but that was the wrong call in that situation. Laurence Tynes might be somewhat dependable, but never would I trust him with a kick that long.

[Dutch 874]

Eli would have thrown it away before he'd ever gotten sacked. Come on, now. You and I know. Giants fans know. Not that I can criticize Tom Coughlin openly since he's a 2 time Super Bowl winner, but that was the wrong call in that situation. Laurence Tynes might be somewhat dependable, but never would I trust him with a kick that long.

 

 

You can't ever predict what will happen on a play. Eagles could have gotten instant penetration and got the sack, the snap could have been fumbled; anything can happen in the nfl on any given sunday and especially any given play. That's the difference between you and Coughlin, he trusts his players. But being human, you can come up short sometimes. Tynes was more then capable of nailing it.

[baltimoreravens 19]

Edited October 2, 2012 by baltimoreravens

[Thanatos 2,847]

Doesn't matter. It was the wrong decision to not try get 5-10 more yards, then spike it.

 

It was 3rd and 19. They can't get 5-10 more yards and then spike it because it would be 4th down.

Edited October 1, 2012 by Thanatos19

[Plax 4 Prez 21]

Eli would have thrown it away before he'd ever gotten sacked. Come on, now. You and I know. Giants fans know. Not that I can criticize Tom Coughlin openly since he's a 2 time Super Bowl winner, but that was the wrong call in that situation. Laurence Tynes might be somewhat dependable, but never would I trust him with a kick that long.

Many things went wrong. The Eli pick was an ill-advised pass into double coverage in the red zone, Eli's bad pass to Barden that basically forced him to pass interfere their CB, and even to pass in that situation with 36 secs on the 26 yard line when all they needed was to do one last run the center the ball for a kicker who had made every kick this season. Tom know's he screwed up. He over thought the situation and is now paying the price for it. Still, after pretty much being forced to punt every drive early on, the Eagles looked really good taking the ball down the field for a score every drive after. Granted mainly FG's but still points. They deserved the win for sure, sad to say for me, but true.

[Phins4life 271]

Amidst all this, how about David Wilson? Kid raked in around 200 yards on kick returns. Every time he got it, I was like "Oh, shit, this is it."

[Plax 4 Prez 21]

Amidst all this, how about David Wilson? Kid raked in around 200 yards on kick returns. Every time he got it, I was like "Oh, shit, this is it."

Yeah, he looked good out there on ST, but he needs to learn how to be a better RB still. Pass protections is still shaky

[Dutch 874]

Amidst all this, how about David Wilson? Kid raked in around 200 yards on kick returns. Every time he got it, I was like "Oh, shit, this is it."

 

 

Yeah, I thought he was about to take it to the house on us like 5 times. I was scared when the Giants were getting the ball back on the final possession.

[NYGIANTSFLYHIGH 1]

Good game dutch/sean/most eagle fans. I am still trying to figure out what we were thinking on that last sequence of plays, as BWare said, Tynes is pretty much a lock on anything inside of 40-45 yards, hes made his fair share of big kicks. Why we dont run it twice there, get to the 20-25, center and spike it, still escapes me. Big win for Philly, huge loss for the Giants who are now 0-2 in the division. I would love to say that week 17 will end up being a big game, but with the strength of our schedule, unfortunately I think this game may leave us dead in the water long before that game.

[GA_Eagle 595]

Good game dutch/sean/most eagle fans. I am still trying to figure out what we were thinking on that last sequence of plays, as BWare said, Tynes is pretty much a lock on anything inside of 40-45 yards, hes made his fair share of big kicks. Why we dont run it twice there, get to the 20-25, center and spike it, still escapes me. Big win for Philly, huge loss for the Giants who are now 0-2 in the division. I would love to say that week 17 will end up being a big game, but with the strength of our schedule, unfortunately I think this game may leave us dead in the water long before that game.

 

I've thought that so many time early in the season only to be completly surprised later on. I wouldn't worry too much... yet.

[SteVo+ 3,702]

There were a lot of things the Eagles did wrong, including settling for a lot of field goals and only getting one touchdown, and a lot of defensive breakdowns in the secondary. When Chris Collinsworth said, "I'm not sure I've ever seen the Eagles play defense as badly as they did on that drive," he was right. I've always hated Kurt Coleman, and this doesn't change anything. He's a bum.

 

I'm thrilled we were able to get the win, especially against a divisional opponent, but we've got a tough schedule coming up. Steelers and Lions before the bye week. If we can split those games and head into the bye 4-2, I'll be happy.

[Dutch 874]

I'm proud of my team. We played a good Giants team and came out with a win. Good game to NYGIANTSFLYHIGH and other giants fans.

 

Offense- 1st quarter our offense was pretty anemic but we got things going in the 2nd quarter on that 2 minute drive to put up a TD on the board. LeSean was completely shut out in the 1st half but came into the 2nd half (statistically when he balls out the most) and got over 100 yards. Mike Vick played a very good efficient game. Vick completed 63% of his passes, 1 td and no turnovers. Vick played a really smart game and managed the game well. Vick used his legs effectively when the pass wasn't there and moved the chains effectively. Our O-line did a great job today. Vick still got hit a few times but Howard Mudd orchestrated a great game plan to negated one of the best D-lines in the league with no sacks. They were chip blocking J.P.P and Tuck on the edge and when they did crash the end, Vick stepped up into the pocket and made a play throwing or running the ball. We also had a pretty balanced attack in this game and I'm glad Marty / Reid made the necessary adjustments.

 

Defense- Our defense did great in the 1st half. After Nnamdi got hurt, the Giants started to move the ball in the passing game gaining over 100 yards while Nnamdi was out. Not going to say that's the only reason, just something that I tracked and observed. DeMeco blew a coverage on the Cruz TD when the play was designed to prevent the slant. The Giants O-line did a GREAT job negating our pass rush now allowing any sacks all game. We got a few pressures but no sacks. DRC got burnt twice; once on the outside by Hixon for 32 yards and another against Cruz for like 30 yards. But DRC came up with the game changing play intercepting Eli in the redzone. We got 3 points off of that. We shut down the run game but Giants passed on us for more then anyone else this season. Hats off to them. This is the 3rd game our defense closed out and sealed us a win. Granted that offensive pass interference call knocked them out of FG ranged, if Barden doesn't hold Nnamdi, Nnamdi potentially intercepts that. Great coverage.

 

Special Teams- Alex Henerey our Kicker deserves a game ball making all 4 of his field goals pushing us to a win.

 

Our special teams coverage was HORRIBLE. Wilson was killing us averaging over 36 yards a return getting past the 40 yard line several times. Giants definitely killed us in field position because of special teams which puts our defense in a bad situation. ESPECIALLY on that last drive. Brian Rolle may have gotten cut because of special teams play.

 

 

Over all, it was a great game by both teams. Giants had a chance to close out with a win and fortunately we won. Can't wait til our next match up.

Edited October 2, 2012 by dutchff7