Some different angles on the Eagles-Giants matchup coming up…

This is a test article of sorts, so I'll keep it short. The network that sponsors Eagles Eye hit us with an unexpected format change. It happened overnight, and we may have lost the "Big Blue View" scouting article in the process. Hopefully we can bring that one back—as well as Kent Phil's delicious livefyre thread on Toffee Krisp and Cadbury Cremes…

Okay, let's find out if I can drive this thing…

I went behind enemy lines to pick Jesse Bartolis'  brain.  Jesse is the NYG's version of our own Jason B. at Bleeding Green Nation.com. Bartolis is the editor of the "Big Blue View"…

What I found out from Jesse is there is a concensus among most knowledgeable Giants fans that the Eagles are respected on the field by the Giants players, despite all the Twitter hoopla we hear between Shady and Osi.

Bartolis points out some objective analysis that actually favors the Eagles in this one:

Offense

The Eagles also rush for more yards per game than the Giants, but I've never considered total rushing yards worth anything. I find rushing attempts, and rushing yards per attempt to be much better indicators of rushing success.

The Eagles have rushed the ball 30.7 times per game (9th most in the league) compared to the Giants 24.3 times per game (24th most in the league).

I find this very interesting considering that Andy Reid has a reputation of being too pass happy, while Giants fans get annoyed with how often Tom Coughlin wants to stick with the run. According to the data, however, the opposite is true. The Eagles run more than the Giants do and the Giants pass at a higher percentage than the Eagles have this year. How often Vick takes off and runs on designed pass plays is not indicated in this statistic, however.

Even though the Eagles are moving the ball extremely well, they are not scoring enough points. This has a lot to do with their turnovers, highlighted by six interceptions by Vick.

As far as the individual statistics go, their passing leader is Michael Vick (905 yards, 3 TD, 6 INT, 66.2 QB rating).

LeSean McCoy, some might say nimble like a ballerina (I kid, I kid), leads the team in rushing. McCoy has accumulated 261 rushing yards (4.5 yards per carry and a touchdown)

The receiving leader is……Did you guess Brent Celek? 14 receptions for 258 yards. That will be interesting to watch. It should be noted that Jeremy Maclin missed one of the three games this season.

Defense

The Eagles defensive numbers are impressive. The Giants clearly need to do a better job stopping the pass. 9.3 yards per attempt is absolutely terrible. They are almost a full yard worse than the worst team last year (Panthers had 8.4 yards per pass attempt allowed last year). Neither team has really gotten their pass rush going yet. Both teams are doing a good job forcing turnovers.

Okay, here are some more points of analysis coming from a Giants fan that actually made me think twice about some preconceived notions about the Eagles:

"My main concerns are two-fold – McCoy and their D-line. Will our O-line continue to show their steady progress since Beatty came back? Can we limit how much McCoy hurts us? I think those are the 2 keys to this game."

"The book on Vick seems to me to show him blitz from multiple locations and then only bring 4-5, but from non- traditional locations (i.e., the dreaded DL in zone coverage with a LB/CB blitzing). Try to create confusion, but then get defenders in the passing lanes. The real difference between Eli and Vick is their reactions to panic situations…

"The REAL difference between Eli and Vick is the presnap read!  Vicks reaction in panic situations is actually good… RUN!.. His issue is when he doesn’t realize it’s a panic situation and holds onto the ball forever and then gets crushed from the blindside."

"Vick STILL has problems reading coverages… but now, they’ve neutered him and he’s not doing what makes him so dangerous. If Vick can’t figure out the coverage in a couple seconds, he’d take off and make something happen…but that forces you to defend him in crazy ways and he could exploit that."

"Maclin's absence will have a lot to do with the outcome…Without him their passing attack goes down several notches."

"Sunday night will be interesting. We (NYG) have the superior offense thus far, while they have the superior defense. Biggest questions….can we get to Vick the way Arizona did (or Seattle did to Rodgers?)… So far, I STILL haven’t seen the same sort of explosion and penetration that I saw in the playoffs. Only JPP, but now he gets doubled 90% of the time. Tuck and Osi get 1 on 1’s and have been getting stonewalled."

"The other is can we (NYG) defend the short pass?. Watching the Eagles vs the Ravens and Cardinals….a TON of their yardage was via short screens and small dump off passes that were designed to grab lots of YAC. This would be to Shady, or Damaris Johnson. They’ll add Jeremy Maclin and Brent Celek has been doing well. Our secondary needs to stay alert."

"The Giants' designed defense, just like last year, bleeding yards midfield, screwing with the numbers… Maddening to watch as well.  And I’m getting sick of seeing the corners get beat over the top, and the safety is nowhere to be found."

"The Giants had their corners play press most of their last game and it seemed to work…here’s hoping they keeps it up against Philly, and disguise their zones well."

There's a lot more Big Blue View-points of the Eagles as an opponent I could bring you that are surprisingly objective and candid, and somewhat respectful of the Birds, I might add…But I'll save those for our next blurb. Now allow me to hit "SAVE" and see what happens in this newfangled format for Eagles Eye. See you on the other side—hopefully!