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The TV guys said it was Bunkley both times.
The players? They had no idea.
"I just think that he ran into his own lineman," defensive end Darren Howard was saying in the jubilant visitor's locker room after the Eagles' 23-11 victory over the Giants yesterday. "They weren't getting any push. No movement up front. He had nowhere to go."
The stat sheet said Eli Manning needed 1 yard on fourth down from the Giants' 44 early in the fourth quarter. The TV showed it was more like 1 inch. Brandon Jacobs lined up behind the quarterback, and every one of the 79,193 in Giants Stadium braced for another massive collision in a day already full of them.
Manning took the snap.
Manning pushed into a pile of humanity.
The pile pushed back. Immediately.
"It was hard to see much," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "Because it looked like a mosh pit in there. But we got penetration."
"All I know," said Patterson, laughing, "is that we got what we needed."
Later, they stopped the Giants on a fourth-and-2 near midfield.
This time Jacobs got the ball and this time Bunkley definitely got to him first.
Fourth down, third down - unlike so many of the playoff games this weekend, there was nothing fluky about the latest edition of this smash-mouthed rivalry. There was nothing left in the hands of an official or an incredibly terrible quarterback. Manning wasn't very good and Donovan McNabb was just a little better, but this was the kind of game where it was easy to see what coaches like to talk about every week:
The line of scrimmage.
And during the Eagles' winter surge, said Reid, "It starts with those two . . . And it goes from there."
The Giants converted three of their 13 third downs, mirroring their futility the last time these teams played on Dec. 7. All week long when Giants coach Tom Coughlin was asked, he pointed to those downs as the reason the Giants played so flat in their 20-14 regular-season loss here, often with a wry smile that suggested their intensity would be different this time.
It was. And it didn't matter. Bunkley was credited with five tackles, Patterson three, but those numbers really make a mockery of their importance. There were no fumble recoveries, no tipped passes, nothing to notice except when the Giants' offensive line, the engine to the No. 1 rushing attack this season, stood still after key snaps, or went backwards even.
"I don't know how that happens," Giants center Shaun O'Hara said. "I think we take full responsibility for it up front. There is no way you shouldn't get a first down on a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-inches. There's no excuse."
New York ran the ball 32 times and Jacobs gained 92 yards on 19 carries, but those third downs were toxic.
"There were no big adjustments made," said Eagles linebacker Chris Gocong. "Not many blitzes. Really, it just came down to beating them one on one."
Patterson was as big a star as anyone on that field, probably the biggest. If he wasn't, Bunkley was. Both were kept fresh by a rotation that has grown in numbers down this magical stretch, a rotation that added Victor Abiamiri back into the mix.
Eight guys, taking turns, staying fresh. Just like the Giants last year.
"How do you feel right now?" Bunkley said, interviewing himself. "Nothing hurts. Nothing at all. I'm not even tired. Nothing."
It's why they were able to stop those fourth downs in the fourth quarter, why guys who had gone toe-to-toe with Adrian Peterson and company were able to hold on to Jacobs, even wrestle him down.
"We've got guys who can fit in if a piece of the puzzle falls out," Howard said.
He's one. He's moved from end to tackle to tackle on the other side. But the biggest pieces, as the coach said, are those gaps that Patterson and Bunkley fill, quietly, unspectacularly, and for most of this season, efficiently.
Said Bunkley, "Hey, I just want to keep it going. Keep what I'm doing. I'm going to just keep my mouth quiet and work."
"I think Mike Patterson has had a Pro Bowl year for the last 2 or 3 years," Howard said. "I think if you look at players' quotes, he probably gets a lot [of credit]. But he's not a guy who's going to get up and do a [bleeping] dance after a great play.
"He just lines up and does it again." *
Send e-mail to donnels@phillynews.com.
For recent columns, go to http://go.philly.com/donnellon.
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