Eagles make statement with resounding victory over Giants

THE MAGNITUDE of the moment cannot be overstated.

First, the Eagles faced a bye week six games into the season. They were 4-1, but it was a shaky 4-1. Most recently they nearly blew a 27-point lead at home to the woeful Rams.

Second, it was prime time, "Sunday Night Football," ostensibly the best game of the week's docket.

Third, it was home, against the hated Giants.

For the first time in Chip Kelly's 23-game tenure as an NFL coach, there were certain expectations.

A loss to the Giants would place the 5-1 Cowboys atop the NFC East, would put the Giants in second place with the same record as the Eagles.

More, it would leave the Birds to stew for 14 days about what kind of team they are, exactly.

They answered that question by the end of the first half. They can savor the answer for a fortnight.

"It's something to build upon," Kelly recited. "We're happy where we are."

For Kelly, that humdrum statement is the unbridled ecstasy.

His players were more frank.

"It's a huge win, against a good divisional opponent, going into the bye week on a high," said linebacker DeMeco Ryans.

"You couldn't ask for a better team win," said pass rusher Brandon Graham, who had one of the Birds' eight sacks. "I'm sure guys will be eager to get back and make sure we don't miss a beat!"

Embattled quarterback Nick Foles expertly ran Machine Gun Kelly's offense for about 28 minutes, and that was enough.

Outside linebacker Connor Barwin, last year's featured addition, sacked the more delicate Manning brother three times. Outside linebacker Trent Cole, the pricey converted defensive end, got to Eli once; Cole has 12 1/2 sacks in his last 15 games. The Birds sacked Giants passers eight times.

LeSean McCoy churned out 149 yards on 22 carries, often sprung by his tight ends' blocks. Also, McCoy was not benched, as he was at the end of last week's game, perhaps because, for a change, he consistently hit holes hard and invited contact.

"I think he really hit some things hard," Kelly said. "Ran the ball a little harder."

Embattled cornerbacks Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher, the key midlevel defensive upgrades in 2013, and safety Malcolm Jenkins, the key midlevel defensive upgrade this year, were afterthoughts, as good, midlevel defensive backs should be.

There have been other big wins, or course.

The Sunday night finale win last season at Dallas was big, but it came against a team that played without its top Cowboy, Tony Romo, who had just undergone back surgery. A cold Kyle Orton cannot compare with a hot Eli Manning, and Orton's two interceptions in his first start in 2 years helped seal Dallas' playoff elimination and put the Eagles in the playoffs.

Coming back from two touchdowns down in a snowstorm against the Lions makes for a good story, but those Eagles were still defining themselves.

Granted: so, too, were these Eagles. Plenty of questions remained.

Were they so much better than the Jaguars that it was unremarkable that they clawed back from 17 down in the season opener?

Were they good or were they lucky to come back from 14 down on a Monday night in Indianapolis in Game 2?

Was Washington so bad that it could never hold a 10-point lead against any decent team?

The most pressing question, of course: Could the Eagles' patchwork offensive line hold up?

The unforeseeable happened: That offensive line dominated the Giants' defensive front. It helped that this fivesome played together for the second straight game, but there was no indication it would be this good.

The line gave McCoy space, and it gave Foles time, and it kept the defense off the field and, therefore, fresh. It minimized the exposure of injured linebacker DeMeco Ryans (groin) and the shortcomings of replacement starter Casey Matthews (talent) and deficiencies of the starting cornerbacks (playmaking).

If the Eagles last night channeled the halftime act and changed from Boyz II Men, the Giants channeled their rival harmonists:

Color Me Badd.

They hardly could have played worse.

They committed 10 penalties for 74 yards.

They intercepted Foles twice, but took at least three points off the board early in the third quarter when, down 20-0, they went for it on fourth-and-goal from the 3.

To add injury to insult, Eagles nemesis Victor Cruz tore his patellar tendon on that failed play.

Cruz is the crux of the Giants' attack.

See, "Sunday Night Football" was a referendum moment for the Giants, too.

That attack will be sorely challenged in the upcoming 6 weeks. They play the Cowboys twice, host the 49ers and Colts and visit Seattle. The Giants visit Dallas on Sunday, then have their bye.

Expect it to be a good bye week for the Giants. As in, goodbye, 2014 season.

For them, last night was probably the end of the road.