Distractions catch up with Giants as
Eagles stay in the hunt 20-14
Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook and the desperate Philadelphia
Eagles proved more of a headache for the New York Giants than all the chaos
surrounding Plaxico Burress.
Westbrook ran 30 yards for a touchdown, caught another 40-yarder from McNabb,
and the Eagles defense limited the Giants to 211 total yards in a 20-14 victory
Sunday that ended the Super Bowl champions’ seven-game winning streak and
prevented them from clinching the NFC East.
“I just think we kind of beat them,” said Eagles tight end L.J. Smith, who has
six catches for 44 yards. “It’s tough to say. That’s one of those: ‘How many
licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll?’ Who knows if the
distractions hurt them and helped us? I don’t know.”
The statistics were all Philadelphia (7-5-1).
McNabb finished 19-of-30 for 191 yards on a windy day that the Eagles controlled
the ball for almost 35 minutes. Westbrook was the workhorse, gaining 131 yards
on a season-high 33 carries and catching six passes for 72 yards. The defense
limited New York’s league-leading rushing game to 88 yards...
Video Recap: Giants beat
writer Mike Garafolo and reporter Jenny Vrentas talk about the Giants' loss to
the Eagles at Giants Stadium. It is just the second loss of the season for the
defending Super Bowl champs
Scoring Summary
PHI - NYG
1st Quarter
0:00
PHI
FG
David Akers kicked a 51-yard field goal
3 - 0
2nd Quarter
1:52
PHI
TD
Brian Westbrook rushed to the right for 30 yard gain
(David Akers made PAT)
10 - 0
0:00
NYG
TD
NYG blocked 32-yard field goal attempt by David Akers.
Kevin Dockery returned for 71 yards (John Carney made PAT)
10 - 7
3rd Quarter
NONE
10 - 7
4th Quarter
13:38
PHI
TD
Donovan McNabb passed to Brian Westbrook down the middle
for 40 yard gain (David Akers made PAT)
17 - 7
2:09
PHI
FG
David Akers kicked a 34-yard field goal
20 - 7
0:15
NYG
TD
Eli Manning passed to Darcy Johnson to the left for 1
yard gain (John Carney made PAT)
20 - 14
Team Statistics
PHI
NYG
First Downs
23
13
Passing
10
6
Rushing
11
3
Penalty
2
4
Third Down Efficiency
11-17
3-11
Fourth Down Efficiency
0-0
0-3
TOTAL NET YARDS
331
211
Total Plays
72
51
Average Gain Per Play
4.6
4.1
NET YARDS RUSHING
144
88
Rushes
41
24
Average Per Rush
3.5
3.7
NET YARDS PASSING
187
123
Completions-Attempts
19-30
13-27
Yards Per Pass Play
6.0
4.6
Times Sacked
1
0
Yards Lost to Sacks
4
0
Had Intercepted
0
0
PUNTS
3
4
Average Punt
36.3
46.3
PENALTIES
9
6
Penalty Yards
73
43
FUMBLES
1
1
Fumbles Lost
0
0
TIME OF POSSESSION
34:54
25:06
Pregame Previews, Storylines,
and News
New Page 1
Preview:
The best team in the NFL
always garners plenty of
headlines, just not usually
outside the realm of sports
media. National attention from
even the most casual of sports
fans has been heaped upon the
New York Giants due to the
Plaxico Burress situation, and
overcoming that enormous
distraction - particularly for
Antonio Pierce - is what they
face Sunday against the
Philadelphia Eagles. Clinching
the NFC East title and a
first-round bye in the playoffs,
which New York (11-1) will do
with a victory, would usually be
a celebratory occasion, but
might just be more of a relief
than anything else to a Giants
team in turmoil...
Prediction: The Giants won't
shoot themselves in the foot this week. The thing is the Eagles desperately need
this game. Too bad its not going to happen. Giants 31 - Eagles 24
Video Preview: The Giants
will clinch the NFC East and a first-round bye in the playoffs with a victory
over the Eagles on Sunday. Join Greg Amsinger and Charley Casserly for a
breakdown of this NFC East showdown
14.8
9.5