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What a game, what a game, what a game! Week 4 and we had ourselves an NFC East slobber knocker in primetime on Sunday night football on the night the Eagles honored a legend, #20 Brian Dawkins and retired his number forever. The Eagles and Giants squared off and just like recent history, the game isn’t over until the clock hits double zero. And Sunday night was no exception. A hard fought physical battle between two divisional rivals ended in a dramatic finish!

The Eagles couldn’t execute and punch the football in for a touchdown and had to settle for a field goal to regain the lead late in the 4^th quarter. But it was a too familiar situation giving the ball back with 1:49 left in the game to probably the most clutch quarterbacks in the NFL in the 4^th quarter, QB Eli Manning. He drove them down the field in position for a manageable game winning Lawerance Tynes field goal set up by two pass interference calls by the Eagles, game in the bag right?

Well nothing surprises me anymore as the Giants get greedy amd make a questionable play call to take a shot at the end zone as Rames Barden is called for offensive PI costing them field position but still just out of range for Tynes. A 54 yarder to win it for the Giants and was missed but wait, Andy Reid called a time out and there is no way he misses it twice. But he did and the Eagles escape with the 19-17 victory and improve to 3-1 on the season, currently first place in the NFC East.

News and Notes

Reid’s Records ... Andy Reid improved his career record against the Giants to 17-13, including wins in eight of their last nine contests ... The Eagles have won 13 of their last 19 primetime games, (eight of their last 12) ... Since 2000, the Eagles are 43-22-1 in games immediately following a loss (.659). Only Pittsburgh (.667) and New England (.711) have better records during that span ... For the fourth straight year, the Eagles have defeated the Giants on NBC’s Sunday Night Football ... The last time the Eagles had three wins of two points or less was in 1990. They have done so in three of four games this year. Prior to this season, the most two-point wins the Eagles ever had in a season under Andy Reid was one.

Captain Comeback ... QB Michael Vick improved his record to 9-2 against the NFC East as the Eagles starting quarterback (3-1 vs. NYG). His career regular season record as a starting quarterback is 56-38-1 (.595) ... According to Pro Football Reference, Vick is the fourth quarterback since 1960 to lead his team to a fourth-quarter comeback win in three of the first four games of the season (Terry Bradshaw in 1979, Brett Favre in 1999, Vinny Testaverde in 2000) ... Vick completed 19 of 30 passes for 241 yards and one touchdown, while adding 49 yards on the ground. In doing so, he moved past Norm Van Brocklin and into eighth on the team’s all-time passing yards list with 7,553. He also eclipsed Adrian Burk for 10^th place in team history with 963 attempts as an Eagle.

Action Jackson ... WR DeSean Jackson led the team with six receptions for 99 yards and his sixth career touchdown against the Giants (three receiving, two punt returns, one rushing). The Eagles are 4-1 in games when he scores against the Giants ... Jackson now has 4,774 scrimmage yards in his career, moving past Tom Woodeshick and Ben Hawkins and into 14^th place in franchise history ... Michael Vick’s passer rating when throwing to Jackson this season is 91.2 (20-38-333, 1 TD). Tonight his rating when throwing to Jackson was 140.5 (6-9-99, 1 TD).

Giant Killer ... RB LeSean McCoy posted his 11^th career 100-yard rushing performance (fourth against the Giants; 3-1 in those games) after compiling 123 yards on 23 carries ... McCoy now has 649 yards and three touchdowns on 115 carries (5.6 average) in his seven career games against the Giants. In the fourth quarter of those games, he has racked up 315 yards on 34 carries (9.3 average) with two touchdowns ... McCoy had just two yards on six carries in the first half and 121 yards the rest of the way, which was his second-highest output ever in a single half (134 on 12/12/10 at Dallas) ... McCoy now has 4,684 career scrimmage yards, moving into 16^th on the team’s all-time list.

Offensive Quick Hits ... Over his last 15 games, TE Brent Celek has accumulated 71 receptions for 1,053 yards and five touchdowns. His 315 yards this season are the most he has ever had through the first four games ... The Eagles offense has netted 1,672 yards this year which is the fourth-highest total through four games in team history ... The last time the offense committed no turnovers in a game was on 10/30/11 in a 34-7 win vs. the Dallas Cowboys.

Defensive Nuggets ... The Eagles defense has held opponents to 4-12 in the red zone this season, while also limiting them to a 28.6% third-down conversion rate (12 for 42 on the season, two for 10 tonight), which ranks fourth in the NFL. Under Reid (since 1999), the Eagles are second in the NFL behind the Baltimore Ravens, limiting the opposition to a 34.6% clip ... CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie picked up his 16^th career interception. He is tied for second in the NFL with three interceptions in 2012.

Rattling Opposing QBs … The Eagles are ranked third in the NFL in opposing QB rating this season with a paltry mark of just 65.6. Only Chicago (62.1) and St. Louis (64.2) rank better in that category. The Eagles defense has allowed just a 52.4% completion percentage, while intercepting six passes … By comparison, the Eagles opposing QB rating in 2011 was 85.7 and 80.8 in 2010. The last time the Eagles finished a season with this low of a number was in 1992 (64.8).

Birdseed ... K Alex Henery set a career high by making all four of his field goal attempts, including a season-long 48 yarder and a game-winning 26 yarder with 1:49 to play ... P Mat McBriar became the fifth Eagle ever to wear the jersey number 1 and the first since Gary Anderson in 1996.

Grades

-Offense: B; Offense played probably their best overall game of the season. They were able to generate over 400yds of offense and were able to move the football. That was due mainly keeping the Giants defense on their heels and attacking them with a balance game plan getting their special weapon involved in the offense.

RB Lesean McCoy finished with another stellar game, recording his 4^th 100 plus yard game against the New York Giants in his career finishing with 140 total yards on 26 touches. This is despite only recording 6 yards in the first half. The Eagles only finished with 1 yard on the ground from the running back but Andy Reid still stuck with his guns which is big keeping the pressure and punishment off of QB Michael Vick.

Vick was extremely efficient 19/30 241yds and a TD. We saw a glimpse of the quarterback we have been accustomed to seeing. He had great protection up front as the game went along. He had good decisions with the football and got rid of the football quick negating the Giants pass rush and taking them out of the football game. He did a better job recognizing the Giants’ blitz schemes still making plays. WR Desean Jackson led the team with 99yds and the only Eagles TD. They were able to get in a rhythm and just kept on clicking which is a huge confidence boost for a unit that has struggled this season.

But probably the most important stat is the turnover battle which for the first time this season the Eagles won that battle not turning the ball over once in the game. The Eagles came in turning it over 12 times solving one problem for at least one week but still some other concerns. The offense can move the football when they keep settling for field goals. They were ¼ in the red zone TD eff. The offensive line struggled early committing penalty after penalty getting dominated in the trenches but picked things up as the game moved along.

It was a nice showing. Still some concerns but their best showing we have seen from this offense this season and a lot of positives that this unit can take moving forward.

-Defense: B; Juan Castillo’s group was very effective causing havoc for the Giants. They were physical upfront shutting down New York’s rushing attack. RB Ahmad Bradshaw lead the Giants with 39 yards on 13 rushes the New York only averaged 3.0 yards on the ground as a team forcing the Giants to try and beat the Eagles through the air.

QB Eli Manning with another great game to add to his MVP type of season 24/42 309 2TDs but a costly interception ends up to be the difference maker in the game. The Giants had problems establishing a drive except for a couple of occasions. They were 2/10 on third down because of the pressure the Eagles were able to get on Manning.

The Eagles surprisingly do not record a sack for the first time in forever but still caused issues for this beat up Giants Oline who were losing the battle in the trenches. The Eagles got constant pressure on Eli to force him to rush his throw and disrupt his rhythm.

But they allowed two Giants receivers to eclipse 100 yards in the game. The D was called for a few penalties that almost cost them the game. S Kurt Coleman is continuing to have communication issues on what his assignment is and almost lost them the game. But when the Eagles needed a big play or a defensive stop, this unit delivered especially CB Nnamdi Asomugha who got the call for offensive pass interference to push back the Giants offense out of field goal range. They are a reason why this team is winning football games.

-Special Teams: D; Eagles got dominated in the battle of field position. The Giants averaged starting field position on their own 34 while the Eagles was own 19. The coverage unit got exposed without LB Akeem Jordan and S Colt Anderson who are the Eagles best players. Again the Eagles are getting no production in the return game and WR Damaris Johnson continues to make questionable decisions. Only reason why this grade is as high as it is because of K Alex Henery kicking a career high 4/4 in the game.

Overall B; Eagles probably should have lost this game but all that matters is they got the W. They are 3-1 and are in first place in the division. This is a team that has found a way to win the close games which is what you like to see. Like the old saying goes, good teams find a way to win the close ones. Still some issues they need to fix but we still haven’t seen the best from this football team. Once we do watch out!

Box Score