Update: Suffice it to say, the Eagles are pretty proud of themselves for the 40-17 beatdown they put on the Giants this afternoon. They really did play well in all three phases of the game. The Eagles put up 391 yards of offense, including 180 on the ground, their highest rushing output since the season-opener against Carolina. Against two of the best pass rushes in the league -- Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck -- the Eagles offensive line kept McNabb relatively upright, allowing just two sacks (one to Umenyiora, one to Bruce Johnson). The Eagles defense allowed the Giants to gain 356 yards, but 103 of those yards came in the fourth quarter, when the Birds had a healthy lead. And the Eagles got a big lift from three young skill-position players: DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin.

With the win, the Eagles improved to 5-2 and moved into a first-place tie with Dallas in the NFC East. The Eagles host the Cowboys next Sunday night.

Andy Reid said afterward that he had no explanation for why this same Eagles team lost to the pitiful Oakland Raiders two weeks ago but beat the Giants by 23 without Brian Westbrook. "I don't know," Reid said. "When I can explain those things, I"ll be undefeated. ... I think when you play these NFC East teams, you just prepare for a heavyweight fight."

That's what this was. The Eagles knocked the Giants down in the first, then knocked them out in the third. "That's the way our guys went about their business this week," Reid said.

"We proved to teams around the league that at some point we can be one of the greatest offenses out there," Brent Celek said.

That might be a little much, but it was an impressive win.

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Update: This will go down as Eli Manning's first regular-season loss at the Linc in five tries. He's come in here and had huge games in the past, but this wasn't one of them.

Sure, Manning was without several of his weapons. Mario Manningham was inactive, Domenik Hixon suffered a hip pointer, Kevin Boss hurt his ankle and Sinorice Moss is getting X-rays on his foot. But Manning has been indecisive and inaccurate, and he'll get a lot of the blame for this loss.

Remember: Eagles now lead the NFC East. Go figure.

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Update: The Phillies chants have started, so this one must be over. It is over, thanks to LeSean McCoy. McCoy took a handoff up the middle for 66 yards and a touchdown -- the second of his career -- to give the Eagles a 40-17 lead early in the fourth quarter.

McCoy made his third start today for the injured Brian Westbrook, and he wasn't lighting anything up -- 8 carries, 18 yards -- until that 66-yard run.

Things really can't get much worse for the Giants, who just missed a 47-yard field goal attempt that would've cut the Eagles' lead to 20 points. Like I said, this one is over. Bring on the Eagles backup quarterback, whoever that might be.

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Update: Illegal though it might have been, Fred Robbins' lateral -- okay, it was ruled a forward pass, but hang with me -- to Osi Umenyiora was a thing of beauty, and proved once and for all that defensive tackles are tackles for a reason. Robbins knew he was slower than Umenyiora. So did Umenyiora. After he picked up a McNabb fumble, Robbins rumbled a few yards then saw the more athletic Umenyiora to his right. Robbins lateralled to Umenyiora, who streaked untouched into the end zone for a touchdown.

Andy Reid challenged the play, which was overturned when the official determined that Robbins' threw a forward pass to Umenyiora. The Giants settled for a 42-yard field goal and trail the Eagles' 33-10. Nevertheless, it was a heads up play by Robbins.

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Update: For all the trash he talked last week, Steve Smith isn't really backing it up. He's got four catches for 35 yards, but he hasn't been able to slip behind any of the Eagles corners like he said he could. Expose them? Smith hasn't, at least not yet.

After essentially handing the Eagles three points to start the third quarter, the Giants put together a decent drive, moving to the Eagles 29 yard line. But on fourth-and-four from the 29, Smith couldn't deliver. He ran a post pattern with Joselio Hanson tightly covering him. Eli Manning threw toward Smith, who couldn't separate from Hanson. Quintin Demps floated over to help Hanson in coverage, although Hanson didn't need it.