Open Thread: Eagles vs. Giants
The Eagles’ second Monday Night Football appearance of the season is here, as a key divisional matchup with the Giants awaits. We’ll pop in with some updates and thoughts from time to time. Feel free to join the conversation in the comments section below.
11:35 – Final: Eagles 27, Giants 7. The Eagles stifle New York’s defense after an impressive opening drive and DeMarco Murray picks up his first 100-yard game of the year as the Eagles take sole possession of first place in the NFC East.
11:15 – Eagles 27, Giants 7. Caleb Sturgis boots a 39-yard field goal to put the Eagles up by 20 points. Sturgis is 2-for-2 on field goals and 3-for-3 on extra points this evening.
The Birds have out-gained New York, 402-215, through three and a half quarters.
11:06 – An update from Reuben Frank on Sam Bradford’s interception-filled evening.
This is the first time Bradford has thrown three INTs in a game since his first NFL game – Sept. 12, 2010, vs. the Cards.
— Reuben Frank (@RoobCSN) October 20, 2015
11:04 – Sam Bradford throws his third interception of the evening trying for a touchdown pass to Zach Ertz.
Bradford is now 21-of-34 for 268 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. He has nine interceptions this year.
10:56 – Darren Sproles update.
Sproles is being evaluated for a head injury, #Eagles said.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) October 20, 2015
10:53 – Darren Sproles took a big hit on a punt return and was very slow to get up.
Sproles is down. Trainers out to look at him.
— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroCSN) October 20, 2015
10:50 – Sam Bradford throws his second interception of the evening, a terribly over-thrown deep bomb to center field where no wide receiver was. He was targeting Riley Cooper on the play.
Bradford now has eight interceptions this season.
10:46 – The Eagles’ defense forces yet another three-and-out.
Giants have gained 19 yards on their last five drives.
— Adam Hermann (@AdamWHermann) October 20, 2015
10:44 – T-Mac breaks out the tweet of the season so far.
Birds 24-7.
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) October 20, 2015
10:41 – Eagles 24, Giants 7. A running-into-the-kicker penalty extends the Eagles’ second drive of the second half, and DeMarco Murray runs over the Giants’ defense en route to another Birds touchdown.
Murray ran for 41 yards on the drive, and now has 53 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries this evening.
10:32 – Injury update on a few notable offensive pieces.
Huff (knee) questionable to return, Cooper (knee contusion) will return.
— Adam Hermann (@AdamWHermann) October 20, 2015
10:31 – Good insight from Josh on the Eagles’ last defensive play.
That blitz where the inside linebackers cross has worked very well for the Eagles this season. Caused Romo's fumble when they played Dallas.
— Josh Paunil (@JoshPaunil) October 20, 2015
10:30 – The Eagles’ defense forces another fumble, this one recovered by the Giants, on third down and 10. Billy Davis’s unit has dominated the Giants’ offense since the opening drive of the game.
10:25 – Jordan Matthews fumbles a potential first-down catch just over two minutes into the second half. Sam Bradford took a big hit on the play.
Matthews has three catches on eight targets so far tonight.
10:23 – More injury updates.
Josh Huff limped off after the second half kickoff return. Slammed him fist down. Up walking now, but with obvious hitch in gait. #Eagles
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) October 20, 2015
10:22 – Sam Bradford launches a 47-yard pass to Riley Cooper to open the second half, which Cooper catches before going down with an apparent injury and taking a while to get up and off the field.
10:04 – Halftime. Eagles 17, Giants 7. Caleb Sturgis boots a 37-yard field goal with three seconds left in the first half to cap off a penalty-driven, eight-play drive.
9:54 – New York punts the ball away, and the Eagles take over from their own 34-yard line with 1:12 to play in the first half.
9:51 – Injury update.
Ryans (hamstring) return questionable.
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) October 20, 2015
9:49 – Another drive, another unsuccessful long third down for the Birds.
Eagles are 0-for-5 on third downs tonight. Average distance to go? 15.8 yards.
— Adam Hermann (@AdamWHermann) October 20, 2015
9:43 – The Eagles’ defense forces another punt. Since the Giants’ touchdown on their first drive, the Birds have limited New York to 81 yards on six drives and forced three turnovers.
9:40 – Sam Bradford loses 18 yards on a fumbled snap that goes over his head, and the Eagles can’t recover from the lost yardage. Donnie Jones punts it away and puts the Giants’ at their own 21-yard line with five minutes to go in the first half.
strong>9:35 – That was Curry’s first sack of the season.
Vinny Curry with his first sack of the season. Lightning quick get off on there. #Eagles
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) October 20, 2015
9:34 – Vinny Curry sacks Eli Manning on third and seven to take the ball right back from New York. The Eagles take over on their own 25-yard line.
9:31 – Sam Bradford turns the ball right back over to the Giants with a poorly-placed ball, intended for Zach Ertz. Bradford is 6-for-12 for 72 yards, a touchdown and an interception through one and a half quarters.
9:28 – The Birds’ defense continues to control the game.
Giants entered tonight with 3 giveaways, tied for fewest in league. Have 3 so far in this game.
— Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) October 20, 2015
9:26 – Malcolm Jenkins forces a fumble on a Rashad Jennings catch after the Giants break into Eagles territory, and DeMeco Ryans recovers the fumble. The Eagles have the ball and a 14-7 lead with 10:34 to go in the first half.
9:21 – Eagles takeaway numbers.
The Nolan Carroll pick-6 was the Eagles' 15th takeaway of the season, tied for 2nd-most in NFL with Jets. (Broncos have 17.)
— Corey Seidman (@CoreySeidmanCSN) October 20, 2015
9:20 – Eagles 14, Giants 7. Nolan Carroll jumps an Eli Manning route and returns it a dozen yards for a touchdown.
9:15 – The Eagles lose 11 yards after the defense forces the turnover on downs, and Donnie Jones boots it away. The Giants take control at their own six-yard line.
9:12 – At the end of one quarter, the Eagles and Giants are tied at seven points apiece.
Just before the end of the quarter, the Giants ran a fruitless stretch run on fourth down and one from the Eagles’ 43-yard line, with Brandon Graham making the big stop.
The Birds have first and 20 yards to go from their own 33-yard line when the second quarter begins.
9:04Offensive analysis from Paul Domowitch through two drives.
Eagles used a lost of 21 personnel on that drive (2RBs, 1TE, 2WRs). Using the extra RB as a slot guy.
— Paul Domowitch (@pdomo) October 20, 2015
9:01 – Eagles 7, Giants 7. A roughing-the-passer call hands the Eagles their first fresh set of downs of the evening, preventing another potential three-and-out.
Three plays later, Sam Bradford finds Riley Cooper in the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown pass. Cooper was open before Bradford threw the ball, and the pass was under-thrown, but New York’s Brandon Merriweather was just a step late to defend the pass.
8:57 – Some contextual stats for Ryans’ interception, and its impact.
Eli Manning started 10-of-10 prior to that interception
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 20, 2015
8:55 – A Connor Barwin negates a third down stop from the Eagles’ defense, but DeMeco Ryans atones for his coverage on Odell Beckham’s touchdown with a strong-armed interception just outside of the red zone. The Eagles take over from their own 22-yard line with 5:18 left in the first quarter.
8:51 – A pretty damning tweet from CSN Philly’s Corey Seidman on the Eagles’ inefficient first drives this year.
Eagles' opening drives this season: • 4 yds, punt • 9 yds, punt • 59 yds, FG • -8 yards, punt • 18 yds, turnover on downs • 3 yds, punt
— Corey Seidman (@CoreySeidmanCSN) October 20, 2015
8:45 – A miscommunication between Sam Bradford and Darren Sproles leads to an incomplete pass on second down, and a poorly-led pass from Bradford to Jordan Matthews escapes the wideout’s hands on third down. The Birds go three-and-out on their first drive of the evening.
Ryan Mathews carried the ball for three yards on first down. DeMarco Murray didn’t see the field on the first drive.
8:42 – Paul Domowitch with some insight on that first Giants drive, including the question Billy Davis will have to answer after the game.
Not one 3rd-down play on that 8-play, 80-yard scoring drive by Giants. Again, somebody's got some 'splainin' to do about Ryans on Beckham.
— Paul Domowitch (@pdomo) October 20, 2015
8:37 – Eli Manning completes his first five passes of the evening and caps an eight-play drive with a touchdown pass over the middle to Odell Beckham Jr., who was covered by DeMeco Ryans on the play.
The Giants went eight plays and 80 yards in just over four and a half minutes.
8:31 – A little pre-game trash talk from the Eagles’ rivalry tifo.
Banner unfurled in end zone pic.twitter.com/YsZRNQeAT1
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) October 20, 2015
8:24 – In honor of Eagles Hall of Fame inductee Brian Westbrook, Donovan McNabb and Brian Dawkins came out of the tunnel before the game wearing Westbrook’s No. 36 jersey, alongside Westbrook himself.
McNabb, Dawkins and Westbrook all come out wearing BWest’s No. 36 jersey. That’s pretty cool.
— Adam Hermann (@AdamWHermann) October 20, 2015
7:51 – Celebrities are out in full force at the Linc for “Black Monday.”
Welcome home, @MikeTrout! ����⚾️ pic.twitter.com/A7X1FxbtWl
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 19, 2015
The gang is all here for @Eagles v. The Giants! Fly Eagles Fly!! pic.twitter.com/37WOYzCeAY
— Jim Cramer (@jimcramer) October 19, 2015