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Giants (1-1) vs Eagles (1-1)
Last Sunday the Eagles lost their game in Atlanta
35-31, with Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan tossing a career-high four touchdown
passes. He took his team from a 10-point deficit to a 35-31 victory while Michael
Vick had to leave the game having suffered a concussion.
On Monday, the Giants
won their first game of the season 28-16 playing the St. Louis Rams in front of
their home crowd. It wasn't as easy as the score may look and in the process they
lost Domenik Hixon for the season and Mario Manningham suffered a concession. Philadelphia
Eagles.
Last season the Eagles staged a spectacular
comeback in the final meeting with the Giants. They dropped the next two games
and had the same 10-6 record as the Giants, but the division title got them into
the playoffs as a wildcard and the Giants did not qualify. They drew Green Bay
for the first game and lost and during the offseason went
about building what some (back-up QB Vince Young) have called a "Dream Team"
They certainly strengthened their secondary by trading for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie,
and signing free agent CB Nnamdi Ashomugha and they already field Asante Samuel.
One of the problems this team has is
that their dreams rely heavily on Michael Vick staying healthy and that's already
not starting out well. It's an ominous sign that they held the lead when Vick
left the game last week and then went on to lose. The Eagles
have scored 31 points in each game played so far and still they have a 1-1 record,
the same as the Giants. Eagles
offense.
Michael
Vick is listed as questionable for Sunday after being knocked out of last week's
game at the Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome with a mild concussion. Still
Vick said "There's no reason to think I won't play." He has cleared all of
the medical tests needed to make a return to the playing field. Giants fans will
be familiar with Steve Smith who had two catches for 29 yards last week in his
first game as an Eagle. He'll be assisting starters DeSean Jackson and Jeremy
Maclin, and tight end Brent Celek.
Running back LeSean
McCoy leads the league with 3 rushing touchdowns and has run for 217 yards averaging
6.6 yards per carry. The offensive line has
the tough task of protecting Michael Vick who has tried to help them by working
out of the pocket more than he has in the past. They're still breaking in, but
despite that the Eagles rank sixth in total
offense and points per game. Eagles
defense.
They have given up 146 yards per game
on the ground over the first two weeks and they know that Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad
Bradshaw are coming to town. Last time they concentrated on stopping the run and
held the duo to 100 yards on 31 carries and 3 first downs rushing. Instead Eli
Manning was able to nail them for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns against 1 interception
and 16 first downs passing.
As we mentioned, the Eagles have greatly improved
their secondary, but the Giants were effective last outing with the short passing
game, their longest completion going for only 12 yards. In that game, lacking
Steve Smith, they used Mario Manningham (8 catches), Hakeem
Nicks (6 catches) Kevin Boss (3 catches) and Derek Hagan (3 catches). The Eagles
will again focus on stuffing the run and the Giants short passing game. Giants
offense.
The Giants have added veteran
wide receiver Michael Clayton to replace Domenik Hixon, who was lost for the season
with a torn ACL for the second consecutive season. Clayton was cut by the Giants
at the end of the preseason. He has some familiarity with the playbook having
played in six games for the Giants last season. Mario Manningham caught 8 passes
for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns last time he faced the Eagles, but is listed as
doubtful for this game after his concussion last week.
The Giants got back
to the running game last week in their win over the Rams, but it won't go down
as a stellar performance. Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw ran the ball 38 times
for 119 yards. The offensive line is improving and will likely benefit from having
Travis Beckum back on the field. Hakeem Nicks, with 10 catches for 137 yards and
one touchdown, will be targeted. That might give Victor
Cruz a chance to show what he's got as well as veteran Brandon Stokley, who recently
joined the Giants. Giants
defense.
Over the first two games they
have given up given up 566 passing yards and allowed 11 pass plays of over 20
yards. The level of quarterback they faced has gone up each time, starting with
Rex Grossman, Sam Bradford and now it will be Michael Vick who is expected to
play. The secondary took a big hit having Terrell Thomas out for the year and
with first-round pick Prince Amukamara still recovering. Aaron Ross (benched for
a spell last week) and Corey Webster will be on the field, assisted by Michael
Coe and Brian Williams.
Kenny Phillips and Antrel Rolle play safety. They
are trying to manage with rookie Greg Jones starting in the middle since they
lost both Jonathan Goff and Clint Sintim for
the season. Justin Tuck was able to play last
week but Osi Umenyiora is still out. Jason Pierre-Paul is coming on strong, but
he has to get through Pro Bowl tackle Jason Peters to make an impact this game. Overall.
There's no love lost between these two teams
and the rivalry has even gone from the field of battle to the world of tweets.
By the end of the game one will have recorded a division win and a 2-1 record.
The other will be on the flip side of that, forced to look away from the standings
and likely endure even more nasty tweets. Will Michael Vick last through this
game? Backup Vince Young has missed the first two games of the season with a hamstring
strain, but if needed Mike Kafka looked good in relief last week. Can the Giants
overcome all their injuries and their weak secondary? Their best hope is to have
Eli Manning engineer long drives to keep the Eagles potent offense sitting on
the bench. NFC East.
First off, a tip of the hat to Cowboys Tony Romo. While there is no doubt that
any one of the NFC East quarterbacks, Eli Manning, Michael Vick, and Rex Grossman
will give their all to lead their team to victory Romo had a chance to show it
and he came up big in the eyes of everyone, including his biggest detractors.
Now on to the Games. There are only two division games this week as the teams
play each other in the matchups. The Giants start things off on Sunday taking
on the Eagles in Philadelphia at 1pm. On Monday, the Redskins (2-0) travel to
play the Cowboys (1-1) at 8:30pm. The Redskins and Cowboys are even and the Eagles
are favored to win over the Giants. Check
out.
The
Team Giants Store, and
see some of the really unique items we put together.
There are some items
you certainly haven't seen elsewhere, and each sale helps out our site.
Giants DVDs and
Posters. 
TeamGiants on Twitter.
Notes.
Giants have lost the past six games to the
Eagles. Giants are 4-4 in regular season
games at Lincoln Financial Field. Giants
Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs averaged a combined 4.9 yards last year. Eagles
meet the Giants again on November 20 at the Meadowlands. Eagles
signed former Giants wide receiver Steve Smith during the offseason. 
Next Games
Oct 2 - Giants at Cards.
Giants Tickets
- Buy
or Sell
Oct 9 - Seahawks at
Giants.
Giants Tickets - Buy
or Sell
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