How the Philadelphia Eagles manhandled the New York Giants

The Philadelphia Eagles put a beating on the New York Giants, who lost more than just a game

On a night when the New York Giants lost Victor Cruz for the season, they also lost a crucial divisional game to the Philadelphia Eagles in the city of brotherly love.

New York was shut out 27-0 by the Eagles, and in the process, saw Cruz tear the patellar tendon in his right knee, according to multiple reports across the league.

It was a brutal night for the G-Men in general. The offense couldn’t protect Eli Manning or get anything going, the defense couldn’t contain LeSean McCoy, and the team as a whole continuously shot themselves in the foot with stupid penalties. The Eagles were able to get McCoy going against a pretty good Giants’ run defense, and Nick Foles managed the game nicely, throwing for two touchdowns and two interceptions to go with 248 yards through the air. It was embarrassing to be a Giants fan tonight, and the horizons don’t look much brighter given the upcoming schedule and injuries to key members of the offense. But give credit to the Eagles for a well-deserved win. Here’s how they did it.

LeSean McCoy Resurgence: You knew it was only a matter of time before last season’s leading rusher got it going, and for Giants fans, it’s unfortunate that it came on Sunday night. He came out of the gates hot, gaining 38 yards on Philly’s opening drive–which resulted in a field goal–and continued to kill the Giants all night.

New York’s defensive line couldn’t get any pressure up front, which allowed the Eagles to do whatever they wanted on offense, especially on the ground with McCoy. While the Giants’ defense was able to keep No. 25 out of the end zone, that’s about as much as the D was able to limit McCoy. He racked up 149 yards on 22 carries–good for a 6.8 yard per carry average. McCoy found his rhythm and so did the offensive line vs. the Giants. It was the first time McCoy went over the 100-yard mark this season.

New York had been playing fairly well against the rush this year, holding opponents under 100 yards per game on the ground, but it was a different defense that showed up at the Linc in Week 6.

The Eagles set out to establish the ground game against Big Blue, and it certainly worked.

Giant Penalties

You can’t win football games when you’re playing against yourself and the opponent, and a large part of New York’s loss was itself against the Eagles.

The Giants committed 10 penalties on the night for a total of 74 yards–that’s not the recipe for success.

It seemed as though any time the Giants had something going–like the Larry Donnell touchdown–it was negated due to penalty.

The crowd noise in Lincoln Financial Field obviously contributed to Manning’s inability to get his offense in sync, which led to multiple false starts and delayed game penalties.

There was a point in the game where in nine times when New York tried to snap the ball, they committed three penalties or allowed Manning to be sacked, which absolutely can’t happen when you’re playing a team like Philadelphia.

The Giants consistently put themselves in long-yardage situations and the result was evident on the scoreboard.

Defensive Pressure Upfront

It’s a known fact that QB pressure is the key to defensive success, and that strategy gets magnified by x 100 when you’re talking about Eli Manning. Manning literally folds when pressure comes up the middle, and Eagles’ Defensive Coordinator Bill Davis had it working on Sunday night.

Davis was dialing up blitzes and twists all night for his defense, leading to eight sacks for Philadelphia.

Manning absorbed six of those sacks and was under pressure on every drop back. This tweet from ESPN Stats & Info tells it all.

The Eagles were exceptional at filling every gap, whether it was when coming after Manning in the pocket or stuffing Andre Williams near the line of scrimmage. Justin Pugh, the Giants’ second-year tackle, in particular had a rough night and couldn’t protect Manning, as Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News noted on Twitter.

On the flip side, Jason Peters contained Jason Pierre-Paul, making him a non-factor for the Giants’ defense, which gave Foles all the time in the world in the pocket and compiled only one sack.

This was supposed to be a premier NFC East matchup, and one that I thought the Giants could handle.

Back to the drawing board goes New York.

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