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Giants-Eagles Is Must-Win at MetLife - Neil Keefe, Keefe to the City
Well, we’re finally here. We’re finally at the point where the Giants are playing a must-win game. Sure, I have been loosely tossing around that title for the past few weeks, but this is it. This is the real deal. Beat the Eagles and keep the season alive or lose, go to 0-5 and play three months of meaningless football. With the Eagles in town and possibly facing a must-win situation of their own, I did an email exchange with Brandon Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation to talk about the perception of Chip Kelly after four games, the emotions of Andy Reid’s return and seeing him in red and if either Nick Foles or Matt Barkley are the quarterback of the future.
Chip Kelly and the Defense - Tommy Lawlor, Iggles Blitz
Oregon was not a juggernaut defense under Kelly, but they were better than you think. They always were among national leaders in sacks, RZ defense and takeaways. They produced NFL talent.
S T.J. Ward
MLB Kiko Alonso – frontrunner for Def Rookie of the Year
DE Dion Jordan – #3 overall pick
CB Walter Thurmond
LB Spencer Paysinger
LB Josh Kaddu
Ducks CB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu could be a 1st round pick in the upcoming draft.
The point of all this is that Chip Kelly has produced good defenses and good defensive players. It may seem like he’s clueless at this point based on the sloppy start of the Eagles defense, but that’s not the case. It just takes time to get the right players into place and to teach them to play the way Kelly wants.
Grading the Eagles at the quarter pole: Defense edition - JimmyK, Philly.com
Vinny Curry is the Eagles’ best pass rusher from what we’ve seen this year so far. The Eagles obviously have some kind of reasoning why he’s not on the field in the base defense, and that’s fine. But can we get this guy some playing time on obvious passing downs? CB Brandon Boykin has rushed the passer 24 times this season, according to PFF. Vinny Curry has rushed the passer 16 times.
Cullen Jenkins Prepared For Reunion - Danta Klaus, PE.com
Upon Chip Kelly's hiring in Philadelphia, it was decided that the team would not pursue a reunion with Jenkins, despite his experience in a 3-4 defense. Jenkins became a free agent on February 25, 2013, when the Eagles declined his roster bonus, and two weeks later the defensive lineman signed a three-year deal with the New York Giants. Jenkins harbors no ill will towards the Eagles for how his tenure ended and actually appreciated how the organization handled his release.
Quarterly Grades: Eagles Offense - Sheil Kapadia, Birds 24/7
The two main concerns with Michael Vick going into the season were turnovers and injuries. His interception rate is down to 1.7 (two picks in 118 attempts), and he’s stayed healthy aside from a couple plays. Vick was OK in the opener against the Redskins. The numbers were good, but he left plays on the field. He was outstanding vs. the Chargers and terrible against the Chiefs. I thought Vick played well against the Broncos.
Eagles need more turnovers -- and they know it - Reuben Frank, CSN Philly
From 2000 through 2011, when the Eagles reached the playoffs nine times and had just two losing seasons, they were seventh in the NFL with 356 takeaways, or about 1.9 per game over a 12-year span. Since the start of 2012, when the Eagles have a 5-15 record, they’ve forced just 18 turnovers. That’s about 0.9 per game -- fewest in the NFL since opening day last year.
The Peyton and Eli Manning phone call transcript - Shawn Conway, The 700 Level
So apparently this week Eli called big bro Peyton to pick his brain about the upcoming matchup against the Eagles. You may recall that Peyton had some success against our birds last Sunday. I guess if Peyton were my older brother and I was playing for the Giants, I would probably be calling him too. Peyton is on a record breaking pace this season whereas Eli and the Giants are, to quote Katy Perry, "like a house of cards, one blow from caving in."
5 Key's to the Game- How to Beat the Giants - FanSpeak
Yes the Eagles should win this football game, and yes if they do they are right back in the division hunt, but you can't get cocky. The Giants are a wounded team this year, and have looked basically awful this season, but that doesn't mean they aren't a threat. This is still a team that has a very good (overall) veteran quarterback, and three good playmakers on offense in Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks and David Wilson. Defensively Jason Pierre-Paul may be struggling up front, but the rest of that group: Justin Tuck, Linval Joseph, Cullen Jenkins, Mike Patterson are playing pretty well. Yes other areas on their team (the OL and back 7 on defense) are struggling big time, but if they improve to just below average levels look out. The Eagles can win this game, they just can't afford to get too confident that they will be at 2-3 after Sunday.
Dennis Dixon to work out for Bills - PFT
Bills starting quarterback E.J. Manuel suffered a knee sprain in Thursday’s loss at Cleveland, leaving rookie Jeff Tuel as the only healthy quarterback on Buffalo’s roster for the time being.