Big Blue Notes

This is what the NFL has come to in the era of parity/mediocrity.  Two teams met in Philadelphia yesterday and it didn't seem that either had the intensity that ought to be required in an NFL game in December.

The Eagles came out and pushed the Giants down the field with little difficulty.  The Giant defense missed a ton of tackles and assignments in that opening drive.  The Eagles looked like they came to play, the Giants looked like they just came.

A funny thing happened on the way to an Eagle rout.  Donovan McNabb, more elusive than I thought he'd be, was avoiding sacks and completions.  On plays when McNabb escaped the Giants pass rush, he couldn't find an open receiver.  When he found an open receiver, they were short of the first down.

I want to talk about McNabb not finding an open receiver.  He was playing the Giants.  The Giants' corners are mediocre and their two safeties were rookie backups.  How could there be no one open?  Apparently, the Eagles still don't have any quality receivers.  McNabb bought time and they still couldn't get open.  The Giants defense was then able to key on Brian Westbrook which should have been the gameplan all along.

Westbrook gained 48 yards during the Eagles impressive opening drive.  The Giants kept him in check from that point on until the Eagles last drive which set up David Akers 57 yard field goal attempt.

The Giants did not look particularly sharp.  They were able to move the ball all day, with most drives ending just outside of field goal range.  The Eagle rush was on Manning all day.  He got to know Trent Cole very well.  To Eli's credit, he hung in there and had a decent game, finding Plaxico Burress often and missing Jeremy Shockey just as often.

The Eagles offense was flat.  Their defense was bending but not breaking and on occasion, putting some nasty hits on Giants players.  I don't like the Eagles, but I'll take Brian Dawkins any day.  He is tough, talented and mean.  He made a tackle on Reuben Droughns that saved a touchdown and gave the Eagles a chance.

Someone needs to explain to me why Andy Reid would call for a running play on third and five with two minutes left in the game with his team down three.  The Giants took the ball down the field to ice the game thereafter and.....OOPS!  Brandon Jacobs on an otherwise great run fumbled the ball inside the Eagle ten.

No big deal.  The Eagles were stuck inside their own ten with  minute left.  Only it was a big deal as the Eagles made it to midfield in two plays.  Thank you, prevent defense.  The drive came up short and surprisingly, the Eagles sent David Akers out to attempt  no-chance-in-hell fifty-seven yard field goal.

The ball was hit hard enough to be good from sixty-seven yards, only it was about two feet too far to the right.  It hit the upright and the Giants, with a sigh of relief, snuck out of Philadelphia with a win.

Some people might classify this game as hard fought, tough game that came down to the very last play.  It was not.  It was a game, as are many games in the NFL now, that saw one team play not as bad as the other.

It looks like the Giants will make the playoffs now.  It represents a step above last year's results, but it doesn't seem likely the Giants will make much noise once they get there.

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