Week 4 Wrap-Up: Eagles vs. Giants

(Photo: PhiladelphiaEagles.com)

On a night where one of the greatest defensive players in Eagles history, Brian Dawkins, was honored, the Eagles fought to defeat the New York Giants by the score of 19-17 in what proved to be a true defensive battle.


The Eagles defense came out battling holding the Giants offense to just 175 first half yards and three points.

Dominique Rogers-Cromartie also stepped up huge for the Eagles with a big second half pick in the Giants endzone.

Both teams got off to a slow offensive start. The half ended with just one touchdown that came from a 19 yard completion from Michael Vick to Desean Jackson. It wasn’t until the second half that both teams started to get their offenses into the game.

One of the main struggles for the Eagles in this game was special teams coverage. Both the Giants kick-off and punt return teams dominated with big returns on almost every opportunity. They were led by David Wilson who had 217 kick return yards and averaged 36.2 yards per return.

The Eagles also struggled in the redzone. They had settled for four field goals overall in the game; two coming after redzone trips.

Unlike past weeks, the Eagles offense did an excellent job in preventing turnovers. Vick’s pass protection could be attributed to this improvement. Vick, who was sacked only twice, saw plenty of time in the pocket which kept him away from much of the risky scrambling and messy ball control. Vick finished the game 19 for 30 with 241 yards and one touchdown.

The game came down to the final seconds when the Eagles took a 19-17 lead. After a Nnamdi Asomugha pass interference call put the Giants in excellent field position, a pass interference call on Ramses Barden sent the Giants back. Barden’s penalty set Lawrence Tynes back to attempt a 54 yard field goal.

Tynes’ first field goal went wide left but a late Eagles timeout called by Andy Reid gave Tynes a second chance to put the Giants on top. Lawrence Tynes’ retry fell short with 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter giving the Eagles their third win of the season.

Next week, the Eagles will head to Pittsburgh to take on the 1-2 Steelers who will be coming off a bye week. Kickoff is set for 1:00 pm.