The Eagles will look to bounce back from last week's fourth quarter collapse in a 35-31 loss to Atlanta when they welcome the New York Giants to the Linc this Sunday afternoon in their home opener.
This could be the perfect team at the perfect time, given that Philly has beaten their division rival six straight times. A few of those victories were gift-wrapped and delivered on a silver platter due to some Giant mistakes, but as they always say 'a win is a win' in this league.
The big story surrounding this game has been the health of Michael Vick, who was knocked out of last Sunday night's game after receiving a concussion on a collision with one of his own players. The doctors have cleared him to play, so barring any unforeseen setback, you can expect Vick to be in the starting lineup come Sunday.
While it is only the third game of the season, this is actually a crucial game for both teams. Past trends have shown that teams starting 2-1 have a significant edge in making the playoffs as opposed to ones that start 1-2. While one game may appear to be a subtle difference, in a 16-game schedule this actually equates to a huge gap, especially when it comes to a team's record within its division. The Giants have already lost to Washington, so a 0-2 hole in the NFC East could be hard to climb out of.
This game is shaping up as another classic Giants-Eagles battle that will most likely go down to the bitter end. The two keys to a Philadelphia victory this Sunday will be its ability to first, stop or at least slow down Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs in the running game, and two, force Eli Manning to make some bad decisions throwing or even running the ball. He has already turned the ball over twice this season after throwing 25 interceptions and losing five fumbles last year. If the Birds' front four can keep constant pressure on Manning, he is bound to cough the ball up somewhere along the line.
Below is a link to my complete preview of Sunday's game as originally posted on Bang the Book.
NFC East Week 3- New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles
No comments:
Post a Comment