The Eagles defense was a force to be reckoned with in a dominating win over the Giants Sunday. Credit: Getty Images
The Eagles finally played a full game. In a 27-0 shutout win over the Giants, LeSean McCoy rushed for a season-high 149 yards (and into second all-time for the Birds) and the defense was dominant up front causing six sacks.
The win was big, putting the Eagles in first place along side the Dallas Cowboys, whose huge victory over the Seahawks Sunday afternoon put them at 5-1 as well.
The Birds defense held Eli Manning in check, hitting him numerous times and keeping the Giants offense to 253(53 of them on a meaningless final drive led by back up Ryan Nassib)total yards compared to the Eagles with 448.
The Eagles sustained two quality drives to open the game, the first resulting in a field goal and the second in a 15-yard diving touchdown catch by Zach Ertz.
In their first two drives the Birds collected 148 yards (65 of them rushing). They also collected a 10 point advantage with 3:56 to play in the first quarter.
The Birds padded the stats six minutes into the second when Nick Foles found a wide open James Casey for a 26-yard touchdown strike, widening the Eagles’ lead to 17-0. A 45-yard Cody Parkey field goal on a drive not long after gave the Eagles an even bigger lead, 20-0.
Philadelphia’s defense made an errant Foles throw, picked off by Antrel Rolle in the red zone mostly irrelevant when they forced the Giants to punt as the second quarter wound to a close with the Eagles’ 20-point advantage preserved.
Another Foles interception led to the Giants first real scoring chance but New York failed to convert a fourth-and-goal and turned the ball over at the Eagles’ one yard line at the 9:35 mark after Victor Cruz couldn’t jump high enough to secure the touchdown grab.(Cruz was later carted off with a serious knee injury).
The Eagles went 97 yards after that, with Darren Sproles punctuating the long drive with a 16-yard touchdown run to give the Birds a 27-0 lead.
Connor Barwin now has six sacks in the last three games leading the Eagles.
Darren Sproles exited the game late with an ACL injury. The extent of the injury isn’t known yet.
