10 observations: Eagles-Giants

Here are my 10 observations from the Eagles' 23-11 win over the Giants:

The text came in from my buddy Jordan at 4:30 p.m.:

I think that's how we all feel right now. I'm not sure it's hit me quite yet. The Eagles are two wins away from their first Super Bowl ever. The city of Philadelphia is two wins away from winning championships in baseball and football after not getting a title of any kind in 25 years. And of all seasons, for this to be the one. The season that included a tie to the Bengals. The season that included

getting benched. The season that saw several people calling for

to be fired. I know there's still a lot of football to be played. And we shouldn't look past the Cardinals. And whoever comes out of the AFC is going to be tough. But how exactly did we get here? That's a question I plan on exploring in an entirely separate post Tuesday.

Huge drive at the end of the first half by McNabb and the offense. The Birds took over at their own 25 with 1:33 left. A 14-yard crossing route to

. A short 5-yarder to

.

across the middle for 7. Avant again for 15. Jackson again for 9. Westbrook again for 4. A scramble by McNabb. A penalty on the Giants. And a 25-yard field goal by

. In all, 68 yards on 12 plays. The field goal gave them a 10-8 lead and momentum heading into halftime. Fox ran a graphic that said the Eagles had scored 50 points in the final two minutes of the first half, the second-most in the league. What? How is this possible? Is this the same Eagles team that has been victimized by blocked field goals, interceptions and poor clock management at the end of the first half all year? That stat really blew my mind. And if you think I wasn't yelling for McNabb to avoid the sack and get rid of the ball when the Eagles decided to take a shot at the end zone with 10 seconds left, you're crazy.

Before the game if I would have told you that the Eagles would get outgained on the ground, 138-59; that Westbrook would have 46 total yards and average two yards per carry; that McNabb would throw two interceptions; that the Eagles would have eight penalties; that the Eagles would have zero sacks; and that they'd give up a 65-yard kickoff return, what would you have told me? That they'd still beat the defending Super Bowl champs by double digits? Yeah, right.

Amazing job by the defensive line, and specifically the tackles. On consecutive drives in the fourth quarter, the Giants went for it on fourth-and-short and came up empty, thanks in large part to

. Down 20-11 in the beginning of the fourth quarter,

was stuffed on fourth-and-one from the Giants' 44. After a three-and-out by the Eagles' offense, the Giants got the ball back and faced a fourth-and-two from their own 47. Big

. Not so fast. Stuffed again. Was there a household in the Delaware Valley that was NOT screaming "They stop him again! They stop him again!" And note on the second stuff,

made a huge play on third down to stop

.

The other offensive drive that I thought was huge was the Eagles' second possession of the second half. On their first drive, the Birds got great field position, courtesy of a

kickoff return, but McNabb was intercepted. The Giants got a field goal and took an 11-10 lead. The Eagles' offense then faced a third-and-20 from their own 15-yard line, and things appeared to be heading in the wrong direction. But McNabb found Avant for a 21-yard gain. Later in the drive, the Eagles faced a third-and-10, and McNabb scrambled before finding

for a 19-yard pickup. Overall the Eagles went 7-for-14 on third down. If you're a frequent reader of this blog, you know that's the stat I point to when evaluating how this offense is playing.

The optimist says...

The optimist says...

With about 3:30 left in the game, in the middle of a Giants' possession, all of a sudden there was

on my screen. And from our live chat, I know this happened to some of you. I was at my folks' house watching the game with my Dad and had no clue what to do. I picked up the remote, but as my Dad pointed out, what was I going to do? Change the channel? We were on the right channel. In as much as TV-watching can produce a helpless feeling, this was it. I'm just glad the Eagles had a comfortable lead at the time. Fox went back to the action after about 10 seconds. But later it happened again, and this time it was a Progressive insurance commercial. Who else did this happen to? What was the deal?

Alright, I still have quite a bit to say so the following can count as 9 and 10, as we do on here from time to time: