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Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson was electric in his return after missing
last week's game with a concussion. In this photo, the wideout does his best
imitation of Cincinnati Bengals' Chad Ochocinco's jerk dance after scoring
his second TD of the afternoon on a 60-yard bomb from Donovan McNabb in the
third quarter. The New York Giants had just taken their first and only lead
on this game dominated by the offense. It took just 20 seconds and the first
Eagles play from scrimmage to retake the lead back for good at 37-31. Jackson
had a game to remember as the receiver caught 6 passes for 178 yards and adding
another 83 yards on punt returns. His first return ended with a 72-yard TD
return in the second quarter. He now has three career return TD's.
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Philadelphia Eagles'
Stats Of The Week
Sheldon Brown's 60-yd fumble return for a TD matches the 9th-longest in Eagles
history. Brown, who also had an 80-yarder at Dallas in 2005, is the first player
in franchise history with two career fumble recorvery returns of 60 yards or more.
The last NFL player with two fumble returns of 60+ yards was Mike Brown of the
Bears, who had a 92-yarder against the Bills in 2002 and a 95-yarder against
the Packers in 2004. Brown's 5th career defensive TD tied the club record shared
by Seth Joyner and Eric Allen. Jackson's 3rd career punt return TD broke the
franchise record that he shared with Steve Van Buren, Brian Mitchell, Brian
Westbrook and Bosh Pritchard. Brent Celek's first quarter TD catch was his 7th
this season, the most by an Eagles tight end since Pete Retzlaff had 10 in 1965.
Eli Manning's 68-yard TD pass to Hakeem Nicks was the Giants longest TD pass
against the Eagles since Joe Pisarcik's 80-yarder to Jim Robinson in the Eagles
28-10 win in 1977. And lastly, the last time Michael Vick had a rushing TD
in consecutive games was Oct 20 and Oct. 27 of 2002 against the Panthers
and Saints.
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McNabb Leads Another Win In Their Last
Game Ever At Old Giants Stadium, 45-38.
Looks like the Philadelphia Eagles are headed for another NFC East Division title after
they beat the New York Giants 45-38 last night in the Meadowlands, The Eagles now have
won three straight games at the old Giants Stadium. They now are guaranteed that they
will have the most wins ever of any Giants opponent in Giants Stadium since the stadium
opened in 1976. The Eagles finished with an overall record of 24-16 in Giants Stadium
and 21-16 specifically against the Giants in the same named stadium, including a 1-2
record in the postseason. There were plenty of memorable games along the way too,
including: the Herm Edwards fumble return with 25 seconds left in the 1978 game that
will forever be known as “The Miracle of the Meadowlands”. There was also a 91-yard
Randall Cunningham punt, the QB’s unbelievable TD run as the Giants linebacker Harry
Carson had apparently stopped him on the 3-yd line, Clyde Simmons’ blocked FG, which
he recovered and returned for a TD (Miracle of the Meadowlands II) and of course
Brian Westbrook’s 84-yard punt return in the closing minutes to win the game 14-10
in 2003. In this last chapter, the Eagles and Giants combined for almost 900 total
yards offense and the most points (83) ever in the history of this storied rivalry,
which dates back to 1933. It even passed the game played back in 1992, which the
Eagles won 47-34 at Giants Stadium. Philadelphia has also scored a combined 85
total points I the 2 games against the Giants against the NFL’s 5th ranked defense.
It was another very good game for Donovan McNabb, who completed 17-of-26 passes for 275
yards, 2 TD’s and 1 INT. With his 110.3 QB rating, the Eagles now have won 41 straight
games when McNabb’s passer rating is 100+ in a game. His protégé in Michael Vick had
another productive game too, completing 1 of his 2 passes, and his 1 completion was a
32-yd pass to DeSean Jackson setting up the team’s first TD. Vick also rushed 3 times
for 11 yards, all of which gained a first down, set up a TD or scored a TD. The first
run was 5-yd gain on 3rd-and-3 for a big first down. It kept that drive alive and
eventually led to a 20-yd Akers’ FG and a 17-10 lead. Then with the half expiring,
Vick rushed for his 2nd TD of the season from 1-yard out thanks mainly to Todd
Herreman’s block with 10 seconds left to put the Eagles up 30-17 after the extra
point was blocked. Vick’s last run came late in the fourth quarter as McNabb
masterly drove the Eagles in scoring position with a 91-yard scoring drive. With
a really nice run after the catch for Reggie Brown from McNabb, the play netted
19 yards down to the 7-yard line as the Birds hung onto a precarious 37-31 lead.
On first down, Reid put Vick in and he ran a delayed QB draw as he was ran down to
the 1-yard line before being tackled for a 6-yd gain. The Eagles’ Leonard Weaver
scored the TD a short plunge. Weaver had another good game as the fullback rushed
for 33 yards on 9 carries and was stellar in pass protection all game long. McNabb
was sacked just once.
The Philadelphia Eagles came right out of the gates moving the ball easily down the
field. The opening drive took just 6-plays and 67 yards, which culminated with an
8-yd pass to Brent Celek for the TD. Then just 4 plays later, Trent Cole stripped
Brandon Jacobs of the ball and Sheldon Brown picked up the bouncy ball and returned
it for a 60-yard TD and 14-0 Eagles lead. Eli Manning then led the Giants on a long
15-play, 77-yd drive, which bogged down at the Eagles 8-yd line with 2 straight
incomplete passes. The result was a Lawrence Tynes 26-yd FG, which cut the lead to
14-3. After two very embarrassing dropped passes, Hakeem Nicks held onto a pass and
scored a 68-yd TD play as some very shoddy Eagles’ tackling allowed the receiver to
break through the secondary. A few possessions later however, it was DeSean Jackson’s
turn to shine in the moment. He first took a low flying Jeff Feagles punt, circled
around a bit, then raced along the left sidelines for an improbable 72-yd punt
return TD. More bad tackling by Quintin Mikell and two costly penalties led to
the go-ahead Dominik Hixon 60-yard TD reception as the receiver broke 3 tackles
on the play. The Giants held the lead for exactly one play as Donovan McNabb found
a wide-open Jackson way downfield. He was so open, the receiver ran the last 15
yards backwards. That was a real crusher for the Giants momentum they had gained
with the two 3rd quarter TD’s. The Eagles defense forced 2 punts before McNabb
drove the team on that long game-clinching 91-yard scoring drive. The Eagles
improved to 9-4 with an 8-2 conference record. The Giants fell to 7-6, one game
back of Dallas for the last wild card spot. The Eagles are now in sole possession
of first place with just 3 games left in the regular season. It is also the first
time Donovan McNabb has won 4 straight games since 2004.
E-A-G-L-E-S .... EAGLES
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NFL RECORD UPDATE:
DeSean Jackson's 72-yd TD return and 60-yd TD reception gave him eight touchdowns
of 50+ yards on the season tying the all-time NFL record of Devin Hester of the
Chicago Bears in 2007 and the Los Angeles Rams' Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch, who did
it in 1950. |
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