Mon Oct 28, 9:00 pm (ABC) - Giants at Eagles
Eagles
look tough.
The Eagles are coming off an impressive 20-10 win over the Tampa
Bay Bucs. In this game they showed they have a few more weapons
than just a very productive quarterback. Donovan McNabb threw for
one touchdown and ran for another, and Duce Staley ran for 152 yards.
Along with that, the Eagles defense held the Bucs to 207 total yards
(81 rushing), coming away with 4 sacks and two big turnovers. The
Giants clearly have their work cut out for them when they meet the
4-2 Eagles for the first time this season at Veteran's Stadium on
Oct 28.
Stats.
The Eagles average 30.8 points a game, pass for 227.3 yards and
run for 143.5 yards.
Opponents average 17.0 points a game, pass for 169.0 yards and run
for 85.5 yards.
The Giants average 14.3
points a game, pass for 244.5 yards and run for 87.3 yards.
Opponents average 16.3 points a game, pass for 197.2 yards and run
for 84.8 yards.
Giants offense.
From the stats above, you can see that the Giants can generate offense,
but not points. They've moved up and down the field this season,
but have had problems getting into the end zone. They have only
seven touchdowns in six games, and have scored the fewest points
in the NFC, with 86. The Giants are coming off a bye week, which
hopefully gave the them time to heal a few bruised players, like
Jeremy Shockey who didn't practice late this week. There aren't
many linebackers or safeties who can cover him one on one, and In
four-plus games,Shockey has caught 16 passes, averaging 13.1 yards.
His presence on the field can be a major deterrent against the Eagles'
blitzes as they will have to account for him. He's an added ingredient
the Giants didn't have last year.
McNabb must be stopped.
OK, that sounds really good, but forget it. McNabb will have his
game. Michael Strahan sacked McNabb 5 1/2 times last season, but
the Eagles won both games. No one is going to stop McNabb, especially
not the 2002 version of the Giants defense which is not only short
one Jessie Armstead (Washington), but has now also just lost Keith
Hamilton to a season ending injury. One troublesome thing is that
recent thoughts have been that the Giants defense should become
more aggressive when actually, Johnny Lynn's non-blitzing defense
is exactly what you want here for this game.
It doesn't pay to have anyone go shooting past a scrambling Donovan
McNabb. Last year, McNabb rushed 13 times for 83 yards in the Eagle's
two wins against the Giants. Just contain McNabb in the pocket and
protect against the run from Duce Staley. McNabb currently has 245
yards on 39 carries, and the Duce is coming off a big game against
Tampa Bay where he racked up 152-yards. The Giants are usually good
here, as the last Eagles running back to top 100 yards against them
was Ricky Watters, who had 104 on 29 on Dec. 1, 1996.
No
mistakes in the secondary.
One thing to avoid is having the defense in the secondary become
too eager to make " the big play". Case in point is Will
Allen. He blew it last game against the Eagles, and that was understandable
in his rookie year. Allen is a fine cornerback, with a great career
ahead of him, but he seems to have a weakpoint when he makes a stab
for the ball. Against the Eagles last time, Allen said he made two
bonehead plays, including one on a 32-yard Thrash reception that
set up the game-tying touchdown, but he says he has learned from
them. Allen said he was overaggressive on that play, and the 57-yard
touchdown and Thrash was able to take advantage both times. "That's
all it was - just gambling," Allen said. "Gambling at the wrong
time. That's something you have to learn".
Don't
gamble.
Unfortunately, just last game, Will Allen made yet another mistake
going for the ball, and it resulted in a 63-yard pass play, which
set up a 14-yard TD pass for the game-winner in the Giants loss
to Atlanta. "I had the guy beat by five yards," Allen said. "I tried
to slow down and tried to make a play instead of coming over the
top and batting the ball down. Stupid!" It doesn't sound like Allen
is learning fast enough, and the Giants just can't afford any big
mistakes, especially in this game against the Eagles.
Notes.
The Eagles and Giants are the only two teams not to miss a field-goal
attempt this season.
The Eagles David Akers, is a perfect 31-for-31 this season (19 PATs
and 12 field goals).
The Giants under Fassel are 3-9-1 in prime time games, including
1-5 on Monday nights.
The Eagles under Reid are 6-0 at night, including 2-0 on Mondays.
Eagles have won their last four Monday night games against the Giants.
The Giants have lost the last two games to the Eagles by a combined
total of four points, after having won nine straight against them
before that.
The Giants have allowed only 91 first downs, one of the best figures
in the league, but have given up 37 first downs on third down, one
of the worst marks in the NFL.
It'll be the last Monday night game at Veterans Stadium, and the
last time the Giants play there. The Eagles are moving to the new,
Lincoln Financial Field next season.
Next Game
Nov. 3, Jacksonville at Giants 8:30pm
Last
Game review, game 6 - Giants
10 - Atlanta 17
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