Die Hard Sports Fan

After keeping fans on the edge of their seats for a few hours, the Giants came out of the City of Brotherly Love with a victory over the Eagles giving Big Blue their eighth win of the 2008 Regular Season.

1st Quarter

The Giants were able to get one first down on their opening drive before Eli Manning threw a pass that was deflected at the line of scrimmage, intercepted, and returned to the Giants’ 9 yardline by Mike Patterson with 13:30 remaining.

The Eagles quickly capitalized on the turnover on 2nd and Goal as they direct snapped the ball to Desean Jackson who broke to the right side and dove over the right pile on for a 9-yard Touch Down run with 13:18 remaining.

The Giants evened up the score on their next possession going 80 yards on 10 plays, and Eli Manning threw a bullet to Plaxico Burress who was in between two defenders in the middle of the end zone for a 18-yard Touch Down reception with 8:21 remaining.

When the Giants kicked off, Quintin Demps caught the ball at the 5 yardline and returned it to the 25 yardline where Ahmad Bradshaw knocked the ball out and Chase Blackburn fell on the ball at the Eagles’ 14 yardline.

The Eagles were able to stop the Giants from getting into the end zone after giving them great field position, but John Carney made a 27-yard Field Goal Attempt with 6:48 remaining giving the Giants a 10-7 lead.

2nd Quarter

A few runs by Ward along with a few passes to Toomer helped set up the Giants on 1st and Goal at the Eagles’ 1 yardline, and Eli Manning capped it off by throwing a 1-yard Touch Down pass to Kevin Boss in the back of the end zone giving the Giants a 17-7 lead with 14:55 remaining.

On 1st and 10 at the Giants’ 43 yardline, Eli Manning got sacked by Trent Cole and Mike Patterson for a loss of 9 yards with 11:04 remaining on a drive which ultimately led to a punt.

On 1st and 10 at the Giants’ 35 yardline, Manning handed the ball off to Brandon Jacobs who broke towards the left sideline and jumped over defenders near the first down marker but had the ball stripped out of his hands by Chris Gocong and recovered by Mike Patterson at the Giants’ 44 yardline with 6:39 remaining.

The Eagles took advantage of the great field position again as Donovan McNabb found Jason Avant at about the 5 yardline who ran it into the end zone for a 10-yard Touch Down catch with 4:01 remaining cutting the deficit to 17-14.

On 3rd and 12 at the 13 yardline, Donovan McNabb threw an interception to Sam Madison who returned it 19 yards to the Eagles’ 14 yardline with 2:05 remaining.

The Eagles kept the Giants out of the end zone again, but John Carney made his 26-yard Field Goal Attempt giving the Giants a 20-14 lead with 1:49 remaining.

McNabb led the 2:00 offense to the Giants’ 11 yardline with 0:05 remaining so David Akers came out to try a 29-yard Field Goal Attempt which he made with 0:00 remaining cutting the lead to 20-17 before the half.

3rd Quarter

McNabb was spreading the love during the Eagles’ opening drive of the half, and Donovan McNabb lofted an 8-yard Touch Down pass to Hank Baskett who came down with the ball in the left corner of the end zone with 11:24 remaining giving the Eagles the lead 24-20 .

The Giants gave the Eagles’ defense a big dose of Jacobs who kept moving the chains to the Eagles’ 21 yardline before Manning scrambled and threw a shovel pass to Boss at 3 yardline which was ruled a penalty initially, and then the play was challenged and overturned. On 2nd and Goal, Brandon Jacobs bulldozed his way into the end zone for a 3-yard Touch Down run giving the Giants the lead 27-24 with 5:56 remaining.

4th Quarter

The Giants continued to wear down the Eagles’ defense as Earth, Wind, and Fire got them to the Eagles’ 6 yardline before getting held out of the end zone for the third time, but John Carney connected on his 28-yard Field Goal Attempt making the score 30-24 with 13:28 remaining.

Hixon returned the ball all the way to the Eagles’ 15 yardline, but a holding penalty backed them up to the Eagles’ 40 yardline. Bradshaw had a 23-yard run which immediately got the Giants into the redzone. On 2nd and Goal at the 3 yardline, Brandon Jacobs with the help of his blockers broke the plane of the goal line while losing the football which was initially called a Touch Down, and then it was challenged and the ruling on the field was upheld. The Giants failed on their Two Point Conversion Attempt so their lead is now 36-24 over the Eagles with 9:30 remaining.

The Eagles opened up their passing attack on the Giants prevent defense marching all the way down to the Giants’ 2 yardline, and Donovan McNabb rolled to the right and threw a 2-yard Touch Down pass to Kevin Curtis in the back of the end zone on 4th and 2 with 5:30 remaining cutting the lead to 36-31.

The Giants held the Eagles on 4th and 1 at the Eagles’ 45 yardline forcing the Eagles to turn the ball over on downs with 1:48 remaining.

The Giants picked up a first down on 4th and Inches to run out the clock.

Wrap Up

Eli Manning went 17/31 and threw for 191 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT.

Brandon Jacobs led in Rushing Attempts and Rushing Yards with 22 and 126 respectively.

Kevin Boss led in Receptions and Receiving Yards with 6 and 69 respectively.

Brandon Jacobs had 2 Rushing TDs, and Kevin Boss and Plaxico Burress each had 1 Receiving TD.

John Carney went 3/3 in Field Goal Attempts.

Antonio Pierce led the team in Tackles with 7.

The Giants had no Sacks.

Sam Madison had 1 INT.

The Giants had no Forced Fumbles.

The NFL.com Game Center: Post Game is attached.

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My expectations of what the Giants would do to the 49ers in the week following the giant embarrassment on Monday Night Football were not fulfilled, but a win is a win is a win. This was also the last opponent on the Jints schedule that was considered relatively easy. The final 10 games on the schedule are much more difficult, and we will see just how good the G-MEN are once they start playing better competition. We’ll discuss the schedule later on in the week so let’s get back to yesterday’s game.

Offense

I was not impressed by the offense yesterday. Eli Manning did not have a good night statistically. He went 16/31 which is a 51.61% completion percentage and threw for 161 yards, 1 TD, and 0 INTs. The Giants defense constantly gave the offense great field position, but the offense did not capitalize on as many possessions as they should have. The Jints offense only put up 21 points on a not so good team which doesn’t leave a good taste in your mouth as the G-MEN are about to face the Steelers, the Cowboys, and the Eagles. My confidence going into these games would have been much higher if Big Blue played a nice, crisp game on offense. Even Brandon Jacobs wasn’t thrilled with how the offense played yesterday because he said, “I felt like we bounced back well enough to win the game but as far as production with our offense, I think it could have been better.” The receiving corps was not very productive either. WR Steve Smith had 4 receptions for 39 yards while RB Derrick Ward had 3 receptions for 50 yards. It isn’t necessarily bad when a running back has more receiving yards than a receiver, but it is when the top receiver only has 39 yards. Plaxico Burress was the only receiver to catch a touch down, but he only had 3 receptions for 24 yards in the game. Also, Burress got heated after being called for a questionable offensive pass interference penalty. He began screaming at the Referee, and then received a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the following play. As he walked off the field, he was caught shouting 4-letter words at Cough Coughlin. Coughlin responded, and then Eli Manning and Antonio Pierce tried to calm Burress down as he was sitting on the bench. Plax is really starting to get on my nerves again like he did prior to 2007. I wouldn’t care if this was a one-off incident, but his behavior is reverting. After getting his mega-contract, he has acted like a fool. Instead, he should be helping his teammates improve. The more Burress acts like T.O. or Chad Johnson, the faster the Giants will let him go like they did with his best friend Jeremy Shockey. Speaking of Shockey, he had a big fumble yesterday which wasn’t his fault. He blamed the coaching and the doctors for that one because nothing is his own fault. Pathetic. Earth, Wind, and Fire compiled 116 yards on 29 touches is only 4 yards per carry. Jacobs had 2 rushing TDs. That number isn’t bad, but it is low for this group who average more than 6.0 yards per carry. The Giants’ offense put up 21 of the 29 points.

Defense

The Giants defense was outstanding yesterday. They 49ers scored 17 total points, but they only scored 10 points on the Giants defense. The defense sacked J.T. O’Sullivan 6 times. Justin Tuck got to him twice, and Chase Blackburn, Dave Tollefson, Fred Robbins, and Barry Cofield got to him once. Michael Johnson had 2 picks yesterday, and one of the biggest plays of the game was when he intercepted the pass in the end zone right before Halftime which stopped the Niners chances of tying the game. Tuck also forced 2 fumbles, and Blackburn forced a fumble. The defense came back and played like they are capable of. The Giants also had a safety. We know that the Giants can rush the passer, but you know that they had a great day when they add 2 picks, 3 forced fumbles, and a safety to that. The Giants’ defense put up 2 of the 29 points.

Special Teams

The worst play of the game took place on Special Teams when the 49ers blocked the field goal and returned it for a touch down. John Carney was 2/3 in Field Goal Attempts. The blocked field goal gave Carney the first missed field goal attempt of the season. The Special Teams unit needs to improve on returns and coverage. The Giants’ special teams put up 6 of the 29 points.

So the Giants won their fifth game which makes them 5-1. They now head into the real season. I’m can’t wait to watch these games. How will Big Blue fair in these next 10 games? I predicted them to be 6-0 after the first 6 games, but they are 5-1. I predicted the Giants to be 6-4 down the stretch giving them a 12-4 record. The Steelers are next on the schedule.

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The Giants had to go back to work today, unfortunately. Below you will find a bunch of notes and reports assembled by a variety of beat writers. The Giants play their first game on Thursday so make sure you watch it.

The Star-Ledger

• Since Plaxico Burress has been unable to practice, he is contributing as an adviser to the Giants’ young receivers. Plax is taking on the mentor role even if the young guys don’t ask for it.
• Mike Garafolo assembled an in-depth 8/3 morning practice report worth checking out. Below is a sample of the entire report. There’s much more where that came from so go check out the source.
  • DEs Justin Tuck (foot) and Osi Umenyiora (hip), WRs Plaxico Burress (ankle), Amani Toomer (leg), Mario Manningham (groin) and David Tyree (knee/PUP), LBs Zak DeOssie (back) and Gerris Wilkinson (knee/PUP), CB Sam Madison (sports hernia), RT Shane Olivea and S Craig Dahl (knee) did not practice.
  • There we go again: first play of team drills was a bomb. Again from QB Eli Manning to WR Domenik Hixon. Great tackle on the play by CB Aaron Ross. Too bad it was way before the ball got there. That’s a 40-yard pass interference penalty on Ross.
  • QB Anthony Wright and WR Michael Jennings hooked up for deep in.
  • WR Craphonso Thorpe got the crowd excited with a spinning, toe-tapping catch on a fade to the left side from Wright. Dockery was in coverage on the play.
  • Hall ran a nice route to catch a hook from QB Andre’ Woodson in front of Webster. Hall later went deep on Pope, but the ball from Wright was overthrown and out of bounds.
• Mike Garafolo assembled an in-depth 8/3 evening practice report also worth checking out. Below is a sample of the entire report. There’s much more where that came from so go check out the source.
  • WRs Plaxico Burress (ankle), Steve Smith (groin), David Tyree (knee/PUP) and Mario Manninghan (groin), LBs Gerris Wilkinson (knee/PUP) and Danny Clark (sports hernia), CB Sam Madison (sports hernia) and OT Shane Olivea (back) did not practice..
  • CB Corey Webster would have none of WR Domenik Hixon catching a fade on the left side. He stayed all over Hixon and knocked the ball away. Webster also stayed stride for stride on a go from QB David Carr to WR Sinorice Moss. Webster had such good position it almost looked like he was the intended receiver. Webster knocked it away for a PD.
  • Hixon ran a perfect comeback to get separation from CB R.W. McQuarters and make a diving catch. McQuarters bounced back with a PD a few plays later when WR Craphonso Thorpe ran the same pattern.
  • LB Chase Blackburn keeps making plays. I mean, this guy couldn’t get a job after the draft a few years ago and now he’s a steady backup in my mind. Tonight, he stayed with Boss on a post into the end zone and wrestled with him to grab a ball from Wright for an INT.
  • WR Brandon London made his first nice grab in a few days on a skinny post over CB Kevin Dockery. Not a bad ball at all from Woodson. London then did a great job of accelerating to at least get his hands on a deep incompletion from Manning. The ball was overcooked and I didn’t think London had a prayer of getting there, but he dove and almost made the catch after getting past CB Terrell Thomas.
• Plaxico Burress did some light running for the first time since training camp.

Big Blue Blog

• Paul Schwartz assembled his own morning practice notes. Below is a sample of his notes, but there are not too many more.
  • On Manning’s second pass, Ross made another aggressive play, storming in to bat away a pass in the flat. Unfortunately for Ross, the ball was picked out of the air by RB Derrick Ward for a completion.
  • David Carr could not have thrown a better pass on a deep toss to Sinorice Moss, who had a step on two rookies, S Kenny Phillips and CB Terrell Thomas. The ball floated down perfectly to Moss … who watched as it slid right through his arms and to the grass. Moss looked up to the sky in bewilderment.
  • TE Kevin Boss, who has caught virtually everything thus far in camp, could not make the grab on a lunging attempt from Manning over the middle.

Inside the Giants

• Tom Rock believes that Sinorice Moss is basically playing for his Giants career in this camp so he’s been under the microscope this first week and a half. That means every drop is written about, and to be fair, there have been a lot of them. Moss had a pretty good practice tonight.

The Blue Screen

• Mike Garafolo put together another morning report and another evening report.

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