Eagles-Giants Up-down Drill
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Eagles-Giants Up-down Drill
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
The highs and lows from the Eagles' nail-biting 19-17 win over the New York Giants on Sunday night:
Michael Vick
↑ The Eagles quarterback bounced back with an efficient and nearly error-free performance. Vick had zero turnovers and handed in his finest outing of the season. Will Vick be this solid the rest of the season? Who knows, but he can enjoy this one for now.
Eli Manning
↓ You never know what you're going to get in the NFL. Manning entered tonight's game a conquering hero. Vick, meanwhile, seemed as if he was on the verge of losing his job. Guess who was rock solid and guess who wasn't? Manning tossed an ill-advised pass into the end zone in the fourth quarter that Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie picked off.
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
↑ Speaking of Mr. Pink, the flamboyant cornerback did not have his best game of the season. But Rodgers-Cromartie came up with the game-changing play when it seemed that settling for field goals would come back to haunt the Eagles.
LeSean McCoy
↑The running back carried the Eagles offense in the second half, rushing for 121 yards on 17 carries. It was a different story in the first half as McCoy was held to just two yards on the six carries. But the coaches stayed on the ground and McCoy was excellent.
DeSean Jackson
↑ The lithe receiver turned in another gutty effort. Jackson caught six passes for 99 yards and his first touchdown on the season. With Jeremy Maclin all but absent, Jackson was Vick's most reliable receiver. Through four games Jackson has 20 catches for 333 yards.
Eagles No-Huddle
↑ The Eagles have had their greatest success this season whenever they've gone without a huddle. The offense did almost nothing for the entire first half until Michael Vick effectively engineered an 11-play, 70-yard drive late in the second quarter that produced the lone touchdown of the first 30 minutes.
Fletcher Cox
↑ The rookie defensive tackle set the tone for the defense on the Giants' first drive, penetrating into the backfield and forcing Eli Manning into two incomplete passes.
Henery's kickoffs
↓It can now officially be labeled a concern. Alex Henery's kickoffs have been lacking thus far this season. Of his 14 first kickoffs, only four have been touchbacks. His first two kickoffs last night were well short of the end zone and resulted in long returns. His third kick reached the end zone but was returned 45 yards in the third quarter. The fourth was returned for more than 50 yards.
Alex Henery
↑ Henry's kickoffs may have been short and the Eagles special teams' effort on kick return coverage may have been lacking, but the kicker hit three big second half field goals -- from 48, 35 and 26-yards -- and he did it with a new holder in punter Mat McBriar.
Brandon Hughes
↑After Nnamdi Asomugha left with an eye injury, the reserve cornerback stepped in and broke up two passes in the first half, including one in the end zone that could have been intercepted. He also made a strong tackle on punt coverage.
Jason Babin
↑Another week, another untimely penalty from the defensive end. With Babin, a ferocious pass rusher, sometimes you just have to take the good with the bad. But he kept a drive alive when he knocked the helmet off Giants tackle Sean Locklear on third down. Luckily for the Eagles, the Giants were later forced to punt.
Bell and Reynolds
↓They're bruised and battered, but the Eagles offensive linemen had a rough first half, particularly left tackle Demetress Bell and center Dallas Reynolds. The unit did show some improvement on the Birds' touchdown drive before halftime when Vick took more three-step drops.
Herremans and Watkins
↑The Eagles opened the second half with a couple of LeSean McCoy runs to the right that featured Todd Herremans and Danny Watkins. The Eagles running back, who did virtually nothing up until that point, gained 34 and 22 yards on successive carries. The drive netted a field goal.
Nate Allen
↑ The Eagles safety broke up a long pass earlier in the first half, but his tackle of Martellus Bennett on a key second down just before the half was a more important play. The Eagles blitzed and Allen was alone on the big tight end. But he dropped Bennett for just a 2-yard gain and two plays later the Giants settled for a field goal.
Brandon Boykin
↓ In the days leading up to the game, the rookie was getting tired of questions about Victor Cruz. The cornerback knew he was going to be covering the wide receiver in the slot, but he tried to downplay the matchup. He wasn't completely overmatched, but Boykin had issues, especially when Manning zipped a 14-yard TD pass to the receiver after he got by the rookie.
Eagles Timeouts
↓ Andy Reid can't seem to get his game management in order, or at least his players who are running the game. The Eagles had to burn two unnecessary timeouts - one by the defense in the first half and a second in the third quarter as the offense was driving.
We need a big, straight ahead RB for those first and goal situations. Two games in a row couldn't score from the one!— burholme- What about Polk with Havili leading behind the fireman and Herremans? I sending that one in to Marty.
- A big straight ahead runner for goal line is a myth, or at least 20 years outdated. If there's any gap, Shady will get through it. If there's no gap, he'll often get around it. If there's no gap, that 250 pound fullback you're fantasizing about will get dropped for a 2 yard loss pretty much every single time.
- I mostly agree I'd give Herremans a he blocked well on some running plays but he was getting beaten like a drum on passing plays and had a couple of penalties. You didn't mention Trent Cole he and Babin were ineffective. All the CBs deserve a big thumbs up, they covered as well as could be expected considering Manning had all day to throw (HTML deleted)
- I'd argue that the D-line did their job changing the game. Look at Manning's QB rating. He was getting rid of the ball like it was a hot potato. Even though the Eagles didn't get a sack, the line play had Manning throwing too soon to be consistently effective.
- The Eagle's kickoff coverage was ... unprintable. Here's to hoping that Cooper, Colt and Jordan are active next week. I will quibble that on the TD pass against Boykins that Ryans has inside coverage and looked like he got there late after hesitating. But, yes, Boykins had a tough night.
- Hey, where's the shout-out for Stanley Havili, who threw some monster blocks for Shady and had some key short receptions and a couple of nice runs?— Slidewell
- Game management??? On the last drive, Vick taking the sack instead of throwing the ball away was huge. The Giants had to use their last TO. That was great time management.— SC Philly Fan
- DRC gets a "good game" because of the INT? ignorning getting toasted on the 4th and 1 and the brutal pass interference that could have lost the game?? I think its hilarious Eagles fans pride themselves on demanding effort and their knowledge, yet will kill Nnamdi if 1 pass gets completed on him. He could have called it a day yet comes back in and his coverage forced the offensive pass int on Barden. The penalty on him was terrible.— FABER
- Herremens off to a slow start or is slipping. Usually an effective lineman and liked him better at guard. He and Watkins are scrappy. My guess is we may see Kelly starting in the offensive line somewhere. Cooper should help at WR, run blocking and special teams— oldBird
