They’ll remember in Philly

By Os Davis  |   Monday, September 18, 2006  |  Comments( 3 )

Philadelphia Eagles
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"This one will be something to remember," said New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin in the postgame show.

Although Coughlin was talking about Eli Manning's banner game, he could well have been summarizing the game for the benefit of Philadelphia Eagles' faithful.

This loss will come back to haunt the Eagles.

With the defense finally figuring out a way to keep Tiki Barber at bay and applying hellacious pressure on Manning, the Eagle offense methodically ran off 24 unanswered points to take a commanding 24-7 lead and potentially an early commanding lead in the NFC East.

Exaggeration? Maybe a bit, but with Donovan McNabb leading long TD drives while methodically mixing pass routes, with Donte' Stallworth again looking great and Brian Westbrook better than ever, and the D on the way to eight sacks, this was looking like one mean green football machine firing on all cylinders.

Until, to riff on the old cliché, the Eagles found a way to beat themselves. Using Manning as proxy, of course.

Philly LB Jeremiah Trotter would later say "I never thought in a million years those guys would come back and beat us." Actually, all it took was about five minutes, as Manning showed all the poise of a wily veteran in driving the Giants downfield twice late in the fourth quarter to put up 10 points and tie the game against a suddenly flat-footed Eagle defense.

By overtime, Manning was dodging the blitz and even showing the smarts to call a play quick enough to prevent a Philadelphia challenge. One Plaxico Burress leap later, and it was 30-24. Game over.

The Eagles let one get away. A big one, too.

The loss was a crucial one not merely in terms of divisional standing but in veneer as well. To be extreme about it, this game could be seen as indication that the 2006 Philadelphia Eagles are to be dogged by the same inability to close out games that ultimately cost this team the big prize five years running. The Eagles were outsmarted, out-hustled and outplayed in the second half, and particularly the fourth quarter.

All stats and philosophy aside, how do you hold Tiki Barber to 51 yards, run up eight QB sacks, and lose the game?

On the same day the Eagles were squandering a 17-point fourth-quarter lead, the Green Bay Packers managed to turn a 13-point first-quarter advantage into a seven-point loss while the New England Patriots controlled the ball well enough to stifle a 17-point New York Jets run and hold on for the win. It's no wonder one of these three teams is among the most feared in the league even when depleted of big names.

To be sure, the silver-and-green still looks fine. Combined with a fairly favorable schedule over the next nine weeks - the next two weeks feature the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay - these guys will certainly be in contention in late December. But once that tough run of three straight NFC East games away kicks in, the losses start piling up, and the tiebreakers are scrutinized, odds are the Eagles are going to want this one back.

Watch the repercussions for the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFC East at RealFootball365.com.
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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