Losing to the Eagles is always a Stinger
by Jonathan Slater
Watching film of the NY Giants loss to the Eagles this past Sunday night brought me a great deal of pain… Losing to the Eagles is always a stinger. This game can be split into two parts: (1) the first half, where most of Vick's throws ended up in the dirt or out of bounds and (2) the second half, where a mixture of runs by McCoy and Vick slowly wore down the defense.
The Giants secondary came into this game already banged up and the situation worsened when Kenny Phillips went down in the first. Rookie Jayron Hosley was already down with a hamstring injury, leaving the secondary dangerously thin. This was even worse, considering the team they were playing has an explosive offense. In order to keep up with the Eagles quick wideouts, Perry Fewell moved another rookie, Will Hill, from his normal safety spot to the nickelback to replace Hosely. Hill was mostly used in running situations however, considering his coverage skills were shaky at best. I believe this game could have turned out vastly different with the speed of Hosley in the game.
Amukamara and Webster both had unexciting but ok games. Webster took his eyes off Desean Jackson and allowed him to run the opposite way on his touchdown. That was inexcusable. Webster has a bad habit of guessing the route before the receiver breaks. While this can lead to some big plays, guessing wrong gives Vick a lot of room to throw into. This lead to two of Jackson's biggest plays this past week. Amukamara gave receivers way too much cushion off the line of scrimmage, allowing Vick to kill them with underneath throws. Force Vick to make tight throws, something he has never been particularly strong with. Overall, the CBs did not allow a single passing play over 32 yards. They forced a game of small ball against them hoping that the turnover prone Eagles would cough up the ball or someone could make a play, but it just didn't happen.
The Eagles played clean and looked like the better team in the second half. I like that this depleted secondary has done what they have been asked to do instead of trying to do too much. As long as they continue to do this, it will give Eli the chance to keep the games close. With the patchwork group filling in for the moment, that is all Tom Coughlin can really ask for.
Grades for week:
Webster -2
Amukamara 0
Hill 0
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