Eagles' DeMeco Ryans does lion's share on defense

THEY NEEDED something.

The Eagles, reeling from punch after punch from the visiting Giants, had been robbed of their first hope; an offensive pass interference flag picked up because the pick the Giants ran came within a yard of the line of scrimmage.

They had forfeited a third-down stop because Connor Barwin jumped offsides, but just barely.

The defense needed rest, and recovery.

They needed some things to go right.

They got them.

They got them from Mufasa.

Over.

And over.

And over again.

It took less than half a game for DeMeco Ryans to gut the traveling Elis. Ryans, the Eagles' lead cat, left late in the first half with a hamstring injury.

He'd done enough damage.

It started when Ryans stole the ball from tight end Larry Donnell.

Stole it.

Didn't intercept it.

Flat-out ripped it from Donnell's arms.

Like a lion tearing open the throat of a hobbled gazelle.

It happened on first-and-10 at the Eagles' 23 with 5 minutes, 24 seconds left in the first quarter. At that point the Giants had gained 120 yards and had scored seven points, and had at least three more in the bag.

"I thought the play from DeMeco really stemmed the tide," Eagles coach Chip Kelly said.

Really, Donnell caught the pass. Ryans just snatched it from Donnell's hands as the pair fell to the ground.

He took it away like the Eagles took first place in the NFC East; like it was some nerd's lunch money. Both teams are 3-3, but the Birds' 27-7 win gives them the tiebreaker.

Ryans fueled the win He knows it. After 10 seasons there is no need for false modesty.

"That play sparked the defense," Ryans said. "It was not looking good. I knew we had to step up and make the play. I was happy I was able to be the guy to make that play for the team."

He did more than just make a play.

Ryans ripped out the Giants' beating heart the moment he ripped out that ball.

He rent their soul from their breathing bodies.

To be fair, these Giants were not a particularly hearty or soulful bunch to begin with.

They're the type of team, hobbled and undermanned through injury and idiocy, that skirts disaster with every snap (and, in the offseason, every crackle and pop).

They are coached by Tom Coughlin, a gnarled genius of sorts.

But they are piloted by Eli Manning, a golden-armed passer with an iron-clad history of collapse.

Monday night, Manning faced a defense with a growing reputation for ferocity; a defense that overcame an atrocious night by Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford, who, with three outrageous interceptions, out-Eli-ed Eli.

That defense was, again, led by Ryans. Finally.

Some 50 weeks ago Ryans ruptured his right Achilles' tendon. Recovery usually takes at least a calendar year. In bemoaning the loss of Ryans, Kelly called him the "Mufasa" of the defense; the unquestioned, unshakable leader; the man among men.

Ryans had been a side note to the Eagles' emerging defensive identity. He was rehabbing in the offseason. He was limited in training camp. He was hindered for the first five games.

"I'm finally starting to feel like myself again. This is the best I've felt," said Ryans, who suffered the same injury to his left Achilles' tendon in 2010. "It's been a process. This week has been the week I've really felt great."

Monday night, he was back. In the nick of time.

"We needed that change. You kind of get deflated as a defense when they come down and take that opening drive for a score. And they were headed back down to score again," Ryans said. "We had to turn the tables a little bit."

"That definitely was a momentum-changer," said nose tackle Bennie Logan, the anchor.

After Ryans flipped the momentum with his pick, he caused the Giants' next failure, too; though it seemed unlikely in the moment. Ryans, burned by Donnell down the sideline, recovered to break up a pass on second-and-1 at the Eagles' 41. Fletcher Cox, the team's best defender, and Brandon Graham stuffed runs on the next two plays. That gave the Eagles the ball back on downs.

On the next Giants series, Ryans stuffed Rashad Jennings on successive first-down plays. That made it second-and-9, and Manning threw an interception in the flat that Nolan Carroll returned for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead.

The Giants fumbled away their next possession. Guess who?

Well, it was Malcolm Jenkins who stripped Jennings after a screen pass reception . . . but it was Ryans, who refused to be blocked, who forced the running back to cut back.

And, so, it was only fitting that it was Ryans who recovered the fumble.

It was his swan song, sadly. He left shortly thereafter with a strained hamstring and left the rest of the defense to carry the standard.

The colors never touched the ground.

Ryans swore he would return for Sunday night's game at Carolina. Last night, he enjoyed watching the fruits of his inspiration.

Graham and Vinny Curry sacked Manning, and then Barwin forced an intentional-grounding call that squelched the Giants' last drive of the first half. That led to an Eagles field goal and a 17-7 halftime lead.

The next time the Giants got it, Jordan Hicks stuffed a run, Cox strip-sacked Manning and the Giants punted. The next one, Curry forced a second intentional-grounding call and forced another punt. None of this sort of thing happened before Ryans changed the game.

It happened a lot after Ryans saved the day.

It happened over.

And over.

And over again.

On Twitter: @inkstainedretch