Here we are pregame before the 153d meeting between the Eagles and New York Giants. It's overcast outside, and the Eagles just left the field for the last time before kickoff. Fans are trickling in. It seems to be a slow-arriving crowd; folks are probably still bleary-eyed after that late Phillies-Yankees game last night.

First quarter

We're less than two minutes into the game and the Eagles are on the board. In just his fifth carry of the season, Leonard Weaver burst out of the backfield past a slew of Giants defenders at the line and ran 41 yards into the end zone for a touchdown on the Eagles' third play of the game.

New York entered the game with the 15th-ranked rushing D in the league, giving up an average of 103.6 yards per game. But that was way too easy for a team that isn't exactly known as a power rushing team. And the run came on Winston Justice's side of the line. He's going against Justin Tuck today.

Second quarter

The Eagles are giving Tuck an inordinate amount of respect. Either that, or they feel the need to give Justice an inordinate amount of help. On their third drive of the game - which ended with a 30-yard David Akers field goal to give the Eagles a 16-0 lead with 14:54 to play in the second quarter - the Eagles used a variety of offensive players to slow Tuck, the Giants' left defensive end.

Tuck is primarily Justice's responsibility, but on their last 15-play drive, the Eagles used no fewer than four offensive players to help block Tuck. Tight end Brent Celek was on him as frequently as Justice; Weaver tried to cut Tuck's feet out from under him once, to no avail; Justice blocked Tuck into Stacy Andrews, who picked up the assignment.

Although we're not 100 percent on this, the consensus opinion here on press row is that Jeremiah Trotter has yet to get into the game, even though the Giants are running the ball a bunch. He's dressed, but stuck on the sideline.

I think Sheldon Brown is still complaining about that holding call on Steve Smith. You'll probably recall that Smith was talking a little junk earlier in the week, about how it was easy to slip behind Asante Samuel and Brown in coverage. Well, Samuel has one pick, and Brown just about had another. Think Samuel and Brown didn't hear what Smith said? Think again.

This is really a crazy league. The same team that struggled to score against Oakland and, in the second half, against Washington has put up 30 points on the New York Giants, and the first half isn't even over yet. The last two scoring drives have been one play and two plays. Talk about a big-strike offense today.

So here we sit, 30-7 Eagles at halftime.

Third quarter

Say what you will about the passer rating - some folks love it, some hate it - it is a good reflection of what happened in the first half today. Donovan McNabb is perfect at 154.9. He's 11 of 15 for 201 yards, with three touchdowns and zero picks. Eli Manning is a subpar 53.3. He's 8 of 16 for 105 yards, with one touchdown and two picks.

Illegal though it might have been, Fred Robbins' lateral - OK, 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.

Fourth quarter

The Phillies chants have started, so this one must be over.

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

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

Contact columnist Ashley Fox

at 215-854-5064 or afox@phillynews.com.