It's the middle of November, and the Eagles—predicted by many to be lost in the shuffle somewhere between a first year starter at quarterback and the rest of their young nucleus—have overtaken the Giants to grab first place in one of the NFL's toughest divisions. We all had different goals in mind for the Birds this year, but very few people would have believed this.
What an ugly game. Easily Vick's worst outing of the season. Receivers were either playing pitch and catch or hot potato, not entirely sure. Of course, the offensive gameplan was questionable in general, and penalties were accumulated as if each one was worth bonus points, so there is that. And yet there is no more beautiful picture right now than a shot of the NFC East standings.
First game ball goes to the defense, which has simply come on since the bye week. Previously it was an either/or situation, as in either they stopped the pass or they stopped the run. In rare instances where they defeated both, late comebacks padded the opposition's statistics.
Not lately, and not on Sunday night. The Giants weren't particularly effective with the football. They went to Ahmad Bradshaw early and often, but their primary back finished with 12 carries for a paltry 29 yards. Eli Manning wasn't much better, throwing for 147 yards on 33 pass attempts, including three interceptions, two by the immortal Asante Samuel. Eli was also responsible for the contest's exclamation point, fumbling the ball on a late scramble despite going untouched.
Manning went into a head first slive (new vocabulary: slide and dive) in the fourth quarter after breaking the pocket on a crucial third down. He managed to pick up the first down, but as he rolled in the grass, inexplicably lost the football. The Eagles recovered, which a desperation challenge upheld.
It was that kind of night for the Giants, who were outplayed in just about every conceivable way. Philadelphia led 16-3 in the third quarter, but briefly found themselves down by a point in the second half. The outcome arguably never should have been that close, as the Eagles missed out on several scoring opportunities.
Most notably, Jason Avant dropped a sure touchdown pass while uncovered in the back of the end zone, and David Akers had a field goal blocked as the first half expired.
Those and a few other miscues weren't enough to cost them the game though. Vick started off strong, but as the defense increased the pressure and began sending more rushers, it was plain they were getting to him a little bit. He was getting knocked down, and the timing just wasn't there. He finished with a season high in rushing attempts, and a season low in completion percentage.
It wasn't entirely his fault either. While the protection was fairly solid, the coaches got away from the run this week. To New York's credit, it wasn't there early on, but the response to have the offense Vick their way out of it may not have been best. To be fair to the coaches, Vick held the ball too long at times, which resulted in a pair of fumbles, and he wasn't getting to his check down options quickly enough.
Coincidentally, it was LeSean McCoy who really put the game on ice. Still down by one in the fourth quarter, the Eagles chose to go for it on fourth and one from the 50-yard line and 3:27 remaining. Vick seemed to bobble the snap, then pitched it out to the running back, which apparently caught the defense off guard. McCoy took it the distance, and after a two-point conversion to Avant, the Birds had a lead they would never relinquish.
Great game? Not really. Great win? Absolutely.
You have to be able to win games this way in the NFL; division games, against a quality opponent, when it comes down to the wire. Ultimately you want the quarterback to play better, the coaches to be more balanced, and the entire team to play with more composure.
You also can't count on everything going right week in, week out. They did a lot of positive things on Sunday. They won the turnover battle. They came from behind in the fourth quarter. They did not allow big plays to beat them.
The Eagles are the best team in the NFC East, and it's about time for the rest of the NFL to take notice.
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