It wasn’t pretty or easy, but there are going to be games like this. This was a typical Eagles/Giants game and they didn’t disappoint us….even though I felt pretty disappointed throughout the third quarter and for most of the 4th.
Let’s look at the game:
What I liked…
-I liked that Michael Vick wasn’t perfect, but found a way to get it done in the end. You simply can’t be superhuman every week, but you have to fight through it and get the W. Vick wasn’t bad, but he was a little more off target than we’ve seen in recent weeks. But, give credit to the Giants there, they threw a lot at him.
-Good job by LeSean McCoy continuing to do what he was supposed to do on the 50-yard TD run. When he saw Vick bobble the ball, he very easily could have stopped. But he didn’t, and Vick’s pitch was on the money.
-This defense is playing pretty well, huh? Three points given up in the first half. One TD was given up because Eli Manning got a pass interference call on a prayer he shouldn’t have thrown up. The other TD came on a short field following a turnover. This is one of the top offenses in the NFL we are talking about.
-I’ve mentioned this before, but look around the league at some of the kickers in the NFL. How important was it for Akers to nail his FG’s? There are some downright awful kickers in the league right now and the Eagles are very fortunate to have Akers.
-How about all those turnovers the Eagles created? That’s huge. The Giants did their best to help them, but still.
-Boy, Jeremy Maclin can hurt you pretty bad, huh? Some set of receivers the Eagles have.
-You have to like the Giants game plan for Vick. Overload him from the left and force him to go right. You better believe that every one of the Eagles upcoming opponents will hold on to this game tape.
-I’m still not a fan, but I have to admit that Ernie Sims isn’t irritating me as much as he used to.
-Very impressed with this run defense. The Giants love to pound the rock and the Eagles wouldn’t let them.
…and not so much…
-Tell me that Asante Samuel had the team in mind as he tried to get more return yards at the end. That is brainless, selfish and could have cost the team the game.
-These penalties have to stop. These are just ridiculous. Some were absolute killers.
-Thanks to Todd Herremans for two 15-yard penalties. You have to bee kidding me.
-And the pass interference on Mikell was just stupid. Some people texted me saying that was an awful call. No it wasn’t. Mikell wasn’t looking for the ball and he mugged Manningham. Stupid, stupid play.
-You have to get those touchdowns early. The FG’s just won’t cut it. I’m watching a game where the Eagles are taking the Giants out behind the woodshed, yet they still only have a 10-point lead. The Eagles seemed determined to shoot themselves in the foot.
-Tough to get on Jason Avant for dropping an easy pass, but…wow. Anyone else think back to Super Bowl XIII? “Bless his heart he’s got to be the sickest man in America.” Obviously not the same stage, but the plays were similar.
-Looks like Ellis Hobbs will be okay, but that was very scary.
-I didn’t like the pass rush from the front four against a team playing with a duct-taped offensive line. That’s a problem.
-At some point I’m putting this on Andy Reid. What do you have to do to get Michael Vick to learn how to slide? It is maddening to watch the amount of hits he takes. These can be avoided. Have fun while it lasts. I keep watching and reading all these people talking about how the Eagles are Super Bowl contenders. They aren’t. Unless this changes. The laws of physics and biology say that this man will not stay healthy if he continues to play this way. I’m not sure how the coaches can watch and marvel at the many talents of Vick, yet not make sure that he’s protected properly when scrambling. Rex Ryan brought Joe Girardi in last year to teach Mark Sanchez to slide. Andy needs to call Amaro and see if he has anyone free to come over to the NovaCare Complex for an afternoon. Tell him they’ll pay for his lunch and he can have up to one refill of a beverage.
Overall, this was a great win. They won a game where they had to dig a little bit and come back. But, the adversity could have been avoided, and that’s what has me frustrated. This team is very close to insanely good. But they need to tighten up the stupid mistakes….and keep Vick healthy.
great post Micah. did you also see that Hakeem Nicks will be out for at least 3 weeks with compartment syndrome, which is a swelling in the lower leg. they will be without him & steve Smith for the next few games.
This Bears game has me very apprehensive if only because it will be our 4th game in 17 days or something crazy like that..Who the hell scheduled that?! This is definitely the teeth of our season and to be playing so well has me extremely proud of our men in Green..Exhaustion could be a factor this coming week..My advice, shorts and shoulder pads and lots of sauna hours..
Also, the RB’s this defense has faced and pretty much have kept quiet are very impressive..Frank Gore, Michael Turner, Chris Johnson, Bradshaw/Jacobs, MJD..I mean these guys are cerifiable studs and the Eagles D aren’t having it..Again, very proud of my team 10 weeks in. I mean, the Eagle’s according to the majority of the so-called experts were supposed to be maybe 3-13 after trading McNabb..It has definitely turned out different and our coaching staff should get a nod.
You’re way overboard on Asante. Yes, he’s supposed to secure the ball but it’s 4 minutes left in the game. He has to try to score. It’s not like he falls down and we can kneel the ball. He did the right thing trying to score because the game was not out of reach. He just has to hold on to the ball like any ball carrier. There was nothing selfish about it.
Michael Vick didn’t find a way to win, the team did. Vick was just “decent” not superman last night because of a strong NYG defense and a great defensive game plan. The Eagle defense outplayed the Giant defense and had great individual performances from Cole, Dixon, Sims, Bradley, Fokou, Patterson, Mikell and Samuel. On offense we had excellent performances from Peters, Herremans, McCoy and Maclin. You can complain about the penalties on Peters and Herremans, but they came up big with beautiful blocks to spring McCoy for the game winning TD. In addition, how many sacks did Osi Umenyiora (9 coming into the game) have? ~ none.
This was a team win and that was the most impressive thing about the way we played. Players other than Vick picked up the slack and found a way to win. For us to go anywhere in the playoffs its exactly what we need,
Micah is over the top on players sometimes and it shows. Only thing Sante coulda done better is secure the rock. I have no prob with him tryns pick up some yardage.
Think about this…every game its like just waiting for him too pick one off…if he doesnt then the passing game for the other team is ineffective cause he’s locking down one side.i went too the game last night and was watching him shadow guys…anticapate routes. Dudes justa bandit. He made Eli think that in route was there and he turned it into our ball on the 13.
This defense is Championship caliber…they need a little more from there front four and that can be gotten later in the season. Dixon wrecks the whole play most of the time. I mean the Giants had nothing goin…at all…ever. This guy is on another level…if he continues how do you not give him a Pro-bowl nod.
I spent some time pondering the Eagles pass rush today, and actually think I have a mild alibi for last night regarding the front four. Because the game stayed close, they had to honor the Giants’ run game, and could not assume a pass was coming and rush hard every play. If the Birds get up 20-3 in the 1st half as opposed to 13-3, they would have had more of an opportunity to turn loose the pass rush and use more blitzes. If you do not focus on stopping the run, the Giants will jam it down your throat and then open up the play-pass calls, which makes it a little bit easier for Eli. There are not many defenses that can stop the run and aggressively pass rush at the same time, which is why it is so essential for the Eagles to score early and often, to force the other team into becoming one-dimensional. They are built to attack one dimensional teams, sack qbs and force turnovers with a lead. The longer you let the oppnents run a balanced offense, the more trouble they will have.
Anderson
I agree. The Eagles had to focus on stopping the run first. In doing so, it causes a second hesitancy. The players must first determine whether the ball is being run to their area of responsibility before going after the QB.
Anderson
You’ve actually supported my contention that it’s important not to throw too many successive passes. By mixing up the plays, you keep the defense off-balanced.
Thank you.
You want to know how the eagles can win soundly. Run the ball more then 6 times in three quarters and eliminate the penalties.
I have heard “oh the giants stopped the run except for 2 plays”. Bull, we did not run at all this game, most of the running plays were broken plays where vick was running for his life. Sometimes i feel like there is an arrogance in Reid’s Gameplan. All you heard in the media is “i’m not sold on vick as a passer” well they threw 38 times. I would love to see more called runs.
The penalties are driving me nutz. If it was not for eli being an idiot we are talking much differently. The giants mainly scored off of dumb penalties.
Everyone needs to enjoy the win because i think this puts us in such a good spot. If you are smart, everyone becomes saints fans for thanksgiving because i would stake my life that if the cowboys lose, they will tank the rest of the season which would give us 2 gimme games.
Off topic. Is anybody watching the Monday night game? Poor Dawk, he looks old and slow, got ripped for two long scores. He should have stayed here for one more year and retired. I know he got more money there, but he could have been Mayor here. Now he just another dude who left us for as few more bucks, mercenary.
I was about the mention the same thing AS
Dawkins needs to retire for he’s only a shell of the player he was once, he’s looks old and out of position
in pass coverage and especially on those 2 plays/scores. I believe he will be relegated to the bench for the remainder of the Season as the Broncos will continue to play younger players for the future..
Dawk had a great first 6-8 games of last season and it’s been steadily downhill and fast from there..
Jackie Smith had a great reputation for being sure handed when he dropped that endzone pass.It was painful to watch. Avant. Not so painful. The Eagles have a heck of a record when leading at halftime.
With Vick on the field they can score in 1 play or have long drives like last night. When the defense (dixon) showed they could get in the Giants backfield and stop the run, I knew we would win the game.
Vick does not need to learn to slide. That is a sissy play invented by sissy’s. Unitas did not slide. Bart Starr did not slide. They stayed healthy, and they had to take hits from Butkus, Decon Jones and that big mouth Eagles linebacker that always talks bad about the current team. Blind side hits have put Matthew Stafford and other QBs out. Franco Harris tippytoed out of bounds his whole career and Walter Payton delivered a blown and the end of his runs. You have to play to your personality. As I have stated before. McNabb suffered his worst injury running out of bounds with a slight push from a Titan player. You avoid hits as best you can, but in the end, Weaver did everything right and his career is likely over, same for Ellis hobbs, you just play football. Brady was popped and put out for the year standing tall in the pocket. You just play football.
Asanta balls out…best off coverage CB in the game…he was tryn to get us six..our DBs just need to work on ball security at practice..
I dont understand McDermott benching Brandon Graham after 2-3 games…i dont like it, he needs to be in ther ahead of JP…look a JP as the starter not nearly any sacks..When he relieved Brandon Graham he was sackin the shit out the QB..Graham needs to start and play..hes our future not a 30-yr old Parker..
Slide Vick and that will be in his contract, if u can slid and u dont and u get hurt u aint getn paid sheeiit..our D was Solid..but we suck when we blitz..we arent getn any sacks..were better off just bringing four and playing 7 in coverage..which wer doin a lot more of rather than last years disaster…
uhh and my disgust for quitn mikell grows each week..wit his miss tackles, penalties…we are in need of another ssafety next year..
Anyways wer good enough to win it all….Lets get it…