Philadelphia Eagles @ New York Giants
Giants Stadium - Meadowlands, New Jersey
Time: 8:15pm
TV: NBC | Radio: 94.1 WYSP, Sirius 122
For a Giants perspective check out Big Blue View.
Nothing but bad news tonight folks, Brian Westbrook has officially been ruled out for tonight's game. The rest of the team, on both sides of the ball, are going to need to come up with a big time performance to make up for the loss of the best weapon on this(or maybe any) team. Kevin Curtis needs to pick where he left off last week, Reggie Brown would do well to finally show up, Buckhalter & Hunt need to step up. the offensive line needs to dominate.
On defense, it's simple. Get after Manning, hit him often & early.
The offense will be without a total of 3 starters. Westbrook, Smith, & Thomas. The defense will be without starters Dawkins, & Lito Sheppard. It's gut check time for the depth of this team.
My prediction, Eagles 23 - Giants 24. The loss of so many starters will be too much to overcome, plus picking against the Birds last week worked!
E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!!
Update [2007-9-30 21:15:29 by BleedGreen]: End of first quarter - Eagles 0 - Giants 0
The loss of Westbrook is obvious. That check down is just not there and the Eagles receivers are not getting open. I'd say all 3 of the Giants' sacks so far have been coverage sacks.
The problem is that the Eagles seem to keep throwing anyway. That ran all over the Giants on the second drive and seemed to have abandoned it once again. It's just one 3 and out after the other. They are going to tire this defense out fast.
On defense, I think they've done a good job against the run but aren't getting the kind of pressure they'd like to on Manning. Actually as I write this Manning just threw one up in the end zone and Burress went over basically 2 guys to get it... The offense needs to give these guys a break. Giants 7 - Eagles 0
Update [2007-9-30 21:57:26 by BleedGreen]: Halftime Giants 7 - Eagles 0
I suppose the Eagles should feel good that they go into the half only down 7-0. The Giants will likely feel somewhat disappointed that they outplayed the Eagles yet only could manage 7 points. The story for the Eagles as a team is penalties. They are absolutely killing themselves with one dumb penalty after another. They have a total of 10 for the half. If they don't stop putting themselves behind the 8 ball time after time with these penalties the second half is going to look much like the first.
On defense, they are making some plays(namely the BIG pick near the end of the half) but they aren't getting the kind of pressure that they need to be getting on Manning. They've done a decent job stuffing the run, but the Giants are moving the ball through the air. The front 4 need to get in this game.
On offense, it's pretty dismal. Again we are seeing the lethal combo of receivers not getting open and the Giants bringing tons of pressure with the Eagles unable to pick it up. Winston Justice, who is making his pro debut needs some help over on the left. That much is obvious. Otherwise, I just don't get this team's fear of the run. Buckhalter has 66 yards on an average of 7.3 a carry. McNabb has 44 yards passing on 3.4 yards an attempt... yet McNabb has dropped back to pass twice as many times as Buck has been handed the ball. I just don't understand. This team needs to run the ball in the second half. They can not keep dropping McNabb back and allowing the Giants to just tee off and blitz. We saw several times in the first times when the Eagles ran right at the blitz and burned the Giants. They need to keep them honest. For nearly the entire second quarter the Eagles seemed to drop back to pass every play. That makes it so much easier on an opposing defensive coordinator if he doesn't have to guess if you'll run or pass.
Update [2007-9-30 22:43:36 by BleedGreen]: End of 3rd quarter Giants 16 - Eagles 0
It's starting to get ugly. The miscues on offense are reaching almost comical levels. Stupid penalties, botched snaps, it's looking like the keystone cops out there. The defense is fighting, but is getting more and more worn down. It's looking like last week's offensive explosion was an anomaly.
Although, I can't deny that having William Thomas instead of Justice, Sheppard instead of James, and of course having Westbrook wouldn't have made a huge difference.