Eagles' Hopes in NFC East Race Already Sacked?

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.--The Philadelphia Eagles usually have looked like the best organized, best coached team in the NFC East while winning five of the last six division titles.

They didn't look like that here Sunday night.

Only a week after seeming to right some of the wrongs in their season by scoring 56 points in a triumph at home over the Detroit Lions, the Eagles unraveled at Giants Stadium. They were called for 15 penalties. They allowed a dozen sacks, equaling the single-game NFL record, and lost to the New York Giants, 16-3.

The defeat dropped the Eagles' record to 1-3 and put them three games behind the first-place Dallas Cowboys.

"Obviously we didn't play very well," Eagles Coach Andy Reid said. "We have to do a better job on offense, a better job with the pass rush. I'm stating the obvious here. You're not going to win a lot of games in the National Football League playing the way we did."

Defensive end Osi Umenyiora had six of the Giants' sacks, falling one shy of Derrick Thomas's NFL record. Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb called the performance "definitely frustrating" and "truly embarrassing," and had his left hand wrapped after the game with what he called a sprain suffered on one of his many falls.

"Their defensive line took over the game," said Eagles tailback Correll Buckhalter.

The Eagles were without tailback Brian Westbrook and left tackle William Thomas, both on the inactive list because of injuries. Buckhalter had a good performance filling in at tailback for Westbrook but the absence of Thomas was telling, as Umenyiora victimized second-year left tackle Winston Justice repeatedly. The Eagles envisioned Justice as the eventual replacement for Thomas or right tackle Jon Runyan when they drafted him in the second round last year out of USC, but the early returns aren't promising.

"I have to learn from my mistakes and become a better football player," Justice said. "I made a lot of mistakes."

But those in the Eagles' locker room didn't blame Justice solely.

"It was tough on him today [but] it wasn't an easy situation to be in," Runyan said. "Playing on the road against a good defensive front, you're going to struggle if you keep getting yourself into obvious passing situations."

Reid said he should have given Justice more help in the blocking schemes and play-calling.

"When they had one-on-one situations on us, they won those situations," Reid said. "It wasn't one guy.... It starts with me. We've always done this and I didn't do a good job tonight of it--helping those linemen."

The Eagles clearly are in trouble. They've been able to regroup in tough spots in the past under Reid. Last season, they won their final five regular season games after dropping to 5-6. But now, there's little indication that a turnaround could be at hand.

"It's easy to point fingers," McNabb said. "But you have to point a finger at yourself first.... You've got to erase the mistakes. We've got to be able to erase that now. We've been very successful in the past. But this is the present. We've got make it happen right now."

The Eagles also had injured tight end L.J. Smith, safety Brian Dawkins and cornerback Lito Sheppard on the inactive list Sunday.

"We've got to get ourselves back healthy and get ready to roll," Reid said. "We've got plenty of talent here."

Predictably, there was little sympathy for the Eagles in the other locker room Sunday.

"Their injuries contributed to what happened," Giants linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka said. "But this is the NFL. No one is going to feel sorry for us if we're hurt, and it's the same way for them."

The Giants evened their record at 2-2 with their second straight win after an 0-2 start. A defense that looked like a major liability at the outset of the season has been dominant in the last three halves it has played, including the second half of a season-saving triumph over the Washington Redskins eight days ago at FedEx Field.

"It wasn't about frustrating," middle linebacker Antonio Pierce said. "It was about guys making up their minds to have the kind of defense we should have."

By Mark Maske |  October 1, 2007; 9:33 AM ET  | Category:  Eagles
Previous: Chargers, At Least So Far, Paying Price for Schottenheimer Firing | Next: Bucs Lose C. Williams, L. Petitgout for Season

Posted by: Ravioliman66 | October 1, 2007 12:41 PM

The comments to this entry are closed.