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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
Preview E-Giants Recap ESPN Recap ESPN Stats
  Giant Insider CNN Recap CNN Stats

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.

Click on the Team Giants logo to be informed of all Giants game previews and reviews.

Game 8 - Preview

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Game 1 - Review

Game 1 - Preview



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