Sunday, November 21, 2010

Eagles take over first place with win over Giants

It wasn't nearly as pretty as last week but the Eagles will take it just the same. In a classic, back-and-forth NFC East showdown, the Eagles edged the Giants, 27-17, and took over first place in the division.

The Eagles were certainly the better team in this one but had to fight tooth and nail to the finish after they settled for field goals in the first half and committed a number of bad penalties throughout the game. Michael Vick wasn't nearly as good as he was last week but he was certainly good enough to win, eluding the Giants pass rush to the tune of 258 yards passing and 34 yards rushing. Vick did commit his first turnover of the season when he had a costly fumble in the 4th quarter but still has yet to throw an interception on the season.

Speaking of turnovers, Eli Manning was a turnover machine for the Giants, throwing three interceptions and fumbling the ball away at the end of the game. While the Eagles didn't manage to sack Eli in the game, they did force Manning to make quite a few questionable throws. His biggest mistake of the game proved to be a fumble while diving head first on a crucial 4th and 6 instead of sliding and giving the Giants a huge first down.

Another big play in the game happened as the Eagles trailed by 1 and were faced with a 4th and 1 at the 50 yard line. After a poor play call on 3rd and 1, Andy Reid made the perfect playcall as Vick pitched the ball to LeSean McCoy who burst to the outside for a 50 yard touchdown. Though Vick bobbled the ball on the snap, it was the perfect play at the perfect time.

It wasn't anything like the destruction of the Redskins last week but the Eagles are exactly where they want to be, positioned atop the NFC East with a favorable schedule down the stretch. They proved tonight that they can win games pretty or they can win games ugly, a true sign of a good team. With another big game against the Bears coming next week and another showdown with the Giants looming in the coming weeks, the Eagles may have to win a few more ugly ones if they want to make the playoffs.

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