Mikefan
- Gamegirl Reviews
Game 8 |
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
OT |
Final |
Giants |
3 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
6 |
23 |
Eagles |
3 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
Gamegirl,
nice finish right?
"Yes,
it was very exciting. Earlier in the game Kent Graham caught
his own pass when it was knocked up in the air. I was watching
the Eagles QB Doug Pederson, and he was looking up at his
batted pass as well, but he didn't have a chance.
It was big Michael Strahan who grabbed it and ran 44 yards,
and in for the game winning TD in overtime.
You couldn't ask for a better finish than that to this game,
for the Giants fans at least."
The Giants
had a rough start
"Things
were looking bad from the start. The Giants couldn't get anything
going, and you felt like they were going to drop this game.
There was no running game, Kent Graham was getting chased
and sacked as usual. Our defense was trying to contain Duce
Staley, and that wasn't working too well. They really didn't
get moving until that exciting long drive that went from the
third quarter into the fourth.
They mixed it up good and were almost stopped a few times.
I always like to see Howard Cross catching the ball, and it
seemed like everyone had a hand in that drive.
It ended up with a rushing touchdown by LeShon Johnson to
make the score 17-10.
That's when it seemed like maybe my Giants could pull this
one out of the Halloween bag after all.
Of course, the Eagles never let up on defense, and the Giants
weren't able to score again until near the end of the game."
That was
set up by the Giants defense and special teams
"Right, there were only a few minutes left, and the Eagles
had to start off near their goal line. They couldn't move
the ball and almost got sacked in the endzone. On the 3rd
down they were just playing it safe, giving it to Duce
Staley for better field position for the kick, or hoping
he might break something. Instead, the Giants were hitting
hard, and somebody knocked the ball loose on him."
It was Keith
Hamilton
"It
was a great break for the Giants and I almost felt bad for
Staley.
I'm sure other Giants fans like myself were appreciating the
ground game he was having, mostly because we haven't see one
like that for awhile.
I had to watch him, and it was just interesting to see how
a running game works. I thought we might see more of Tiki
Barber running, using the hurry up offense, but I only remember
seeing him catch the ball a few times."
Tiki Barber
had only one rush and four receptions
"So
as usual, our defense had to step up and win this game for
us.
The bye week couldn't come at a better time for the Giants
to heal all their injuries, and to hit the playbooks."
Things
looked pretty bad in the beginning
"Yes,
this was not a game to be especially proud of in a lot of
areas. People will complain over the bye week about the Giants
offense and Graham. Everyone forgets that Gary Brown and his
backup Joe Montgomery are out. Percy Ellsworth and his backup
Shaun Williams are out. The defense is banged up, and obviously
Sehorn is not at his best just yet. Graham was the leading
rusher for this game, and that doesn't count all the yards
he had to scramble for just to keep from being sacked. Graham
actually finished at 26-of-42 for 240 yards.
It's a good thing the defense was able to hang in, even with
the injuries.
Christian Peter had a big day. He blocked a FG attempt by
the Eagles in the 4th Quarter, and then in OT, he's the one
who batted Doug Pederson's pass into the air for Michael Strahan
to grab."
Gamegirl
mentioned that one long scoring drive
"Right,
it was the one that ended with a Leshon Johnson 2 yard run
for a TD that made the score 17-10. It was a 16 play, 83 yard
drive that took 8:59. It also had many chances to fail.
In it, Graham had a 13 yard run, and a 16 yard pass to Mitchell
on a 3rd-and-15. Fassel made a gutsy call at midfield going
for a 4th-and-1, and LeShon made it to the Philadelphia 49.
Graham completed a 25 yard pass to Toomer on a 3rd-and-12.
There was just a lot of ways that drive could have been stopped.
It must have drove the Eagles fans wild.
They weren't a quiet bunch and were all over Pederson in the
beginning. He was replaced with McNabb after the Eagles went
to 3-0 mostly thanks to Staley's running."
Duce Staley
had some good numbers
"Yeah, he was doing everything for the Eagles on offense
and gained 97 yards on 26 carries against the Giants D, including
a 21-yard TD run.
We're pinning our hopes on LeShon Johnson, and he's run for
only 104 yards this season on 51 carries. Kent Graham was
the leading rusher for the Giants this game with 40 yards.
That shouldn't be."
Think
a Collins for Staley trade is in order?
"Boy,
you're going to make a lot of people unhappy with that joke.
To answer what you're saying, we really do need an effective
running back, and I really don't know what the Eagles QB problem
is.
McNabb was only in there for one series when they saw that
Armstead was putting these big rushes on him. They took him
out to spare the nightmares I guess, and when Pederson came
back, he ended up being intercepted by Jessie Armstead.
The Giants moved the ball a little to the 19, and then tried
that 34 yard field goal which missed. That was a big letdown.
The Eagles came back with their strength which was Staley.
On the very first play of this series, he drags Phillips along
with him for 15 yards. Pederson starts mixing up some pass
plays with Staley's running, and they take it to the Giants
21. Then it's all Duce as he runs it up the middle, breaks
away from everybody and takes it in for the TD that made it
10-3.
Like Gamegirl said, it was amazing to watch no matter what
side of the ball you're on.
Getting
back to the Eagles QBs, Pederson had some nice throws for
some big yardage against the Giants, and if you combine that
with the Duce's running, it's hard to see why they can't win
more games."
Pederson
threw the Eagles longest pass in more than five years
"Right,
that's what I mean, and of course the longest one before that
for the Eagles was against the Giants as well. The last was
Randall Cunningham's 93 yarder to Herschel Walker against
the Giants on Sept. 4, 1994.
These teams share some history. At least this one goes into
the books as a Giants win."
Notes
Strahan
said,"I saw the ball get tipped and thought, 'This is too
good to be true. It was moving in slow motion."
It
was Strahan's 2nd career interception return for a touchdown.
Strahan
said at halftime that Coach Jim Fassel was kicking at chairs,
something he hadn't seen before.
Brandon
Sanders, unemployed a week earlier, had 8 tackles.
Jim
Fassel is now 6-0 against the Eagles as coach.
Giants have won 4 in row with Graham as the starter.
Kent Graham is 10-3 for the Giants as the starter.
Graham
said it was difficult to go no-huddle because of the crowd
noise.
Graham
was not only the Giants leading passer, he also was the leading
rusher and thanks to that batted pass to himself, he's the
ninth-leading receiver.
Rushing
Giants - Graham 4-40, L.Johnson 14-31, Way 5-16, Barber 1-4.
Eagles -, Staley 26-97, Turner 2-7, Pederson 2-6, Bostic 1-2.
Passing
Giants - Graham 26-42-0-240.
Eagles - Pederson 18-28-2-256, McNabb 1-2-0-0.
Receiving
Giants - Mitchell 6-41, Barber 4-43, L.Johnson 4-35, Hilliard
3-33, Cross 3-31, Way 3-21, Toomer 1-25, Jurevicius 1-12,
Graham 1-(minus 1). Eagles - C.Johnson 8-84, Small 4-119,
Staley 3-32, Broughton 2-8, Jells 1-8, Turner 1-5.
Punt
Returns
Giants - Barber 2-10.
Eagles - Rossum 4-38.
Kickoff
Returns
Giants - Levingston 3-79, Patten 1-26.
Eagles - Bieniemy 3-72, Rossum 1-21.
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