Opponent Profile: Philadelphia Eagles' Statistics Belie Division-Leading Record
By Curt Macysyn
It would be hard to imagine that a team could play any worse in stretches than the Philadelphia Eagles (4-1) have and only have one loss after five weeks. Up and down the stat sheet, the Eagles are a far cry from the team that surprisingly won the NFC East last season. The biggest riddle emanating from the City of Brotherly Love is whether the Birds have been playing down to the level of their competition, or did this team simply catch everyone by surprise last season? Perhaps Sunday night's contest, between these long-time rivals, will give us an answer.
Slim Shady
Last season, Eagles' running back LeSean McCoy rushed for 1,607 yards, which led the NFL, scoring nine touchdowns in the process. The sixth-year tailback from the University of Pittsburgh averaged a stout 5.1 yards per carry and also caught 52 passes out of the backfield. This season McCoy has gone from the penthouse to the outhouse. The back they call "Shady" is averaging a mere 54.6 yards per game, and his per carry average has dropped to 2.9 yards per carry.
Through five games, the New York Giants are giving up an average of 99.0 yards on the ground, which ranks 11th in the NFL. In those five weeks, the G-men have faced backs like Reggie Bush, Alfred Morris, and Steven Jackson, so they have been shown capable of shutting down first-rate running attacks. But McCoy has been a notorious Giant-killer in his career, so New York has to guard against Shady's 2014 coming out party at their expense.
Birds' quarterback Nick Foles was the darling of everyone's fantasy league last year, as the third-year man from Arizona took over for the now departed Michael Vick and led the Eagles into the playoffs. Foles' quarterback rating of 119.2 was the best in the league, as he chucked 27 touchdowns against only two interceptions in 2013. Things are different in 2014, however, as Foles' QB rating has taken a nosedive down to 82.5 over the first five contests. Foles has thrown eight touchdown passes this year, but has more interception (5) than he had all of last season.
Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus had this to say about Foles after yesterday's victory against the St. Louis Rams, "Sometimes you get the feeling Foles puts up numbers more by luck than by design. The number of times he just flung a ball vaguely in the direction of one of his receivers when under pressure in this game was mind-blowing." Not coincidentally, Foles overall grade from PFF is -10.6 this season, ahead of only Geno Smith (Jets) and Jake Locker (Titans), of the 35 quarterbacks rated. Foles was given a -4.0 rating against the Rams on Sunday, good for 27th among quarterbacks this week, and worse than even Geno Smith of the New York Jets.
Luckily for the Giants, the Eagles jettisoned wide receiver DeSean Jackson in the off season, but Philadelphia still has Jeremy Maclin to worry about. Maclin has 25 catches for 429 receiving yards and four touchdowns already. He has a gaudy 17.2 yards per reception average and seven catches of 20+ yards on the young season. Shutting Maclin down will be priority one for the G-men. At tight end, the Eagles boast young Zach Ertz with 16 grabs, and rookie Jordan Matthews and Riley Cooper both have 19 catches on the season from the wide receiver position. Diminutive Darren Sproles is the type of threat out of the backfield that normally give the Giants fits, so Big Blue's linebacking corps needs to rise to the challenge.
Ryans Hope
Houston Texans' castoff DeMeco Ryans lead the Birds in tackles with 36 in five contests, but he grades out to -1.1 overall by Pro Football Focus. The team's defense has an overall positive grade (+12.3) by PFF, good for 10th in the NFL. The Giants are the second rated defense according to PFF, with a stellar 46.4 grade, which trails only the Miami Dolphins.
Cornerback Brandon Boykins grades out highly in the secondary with a +5.0, but his opposite, Cary Williams is in the red with a -4.6 rating. Interestingly enough, the Eagles have only three pass interceptions on the season, all by safety Malcolm Jenkins.
Edge rusher Connor Barwin leads the team with 3.0 sacks and had 2.0 sacks against the Rams on Sunday. Trent Cole is another player who seems to save his best for the Giants, and he is second on the team with 2.5 quarterback sacks. Eli Manning was sacked only once on Sunday against the Falcons, by ex-Giant Osi Umenyiora.
Team-wise the Eagles give up an average of 406.2 yards per game, which is fifth worst in the entire NFL, with 274.2 yards coming through the air (29th), and 132.0 rushing yards per game (21st). It would seem, based upon the statistics, that the Giants should be able to thrive against the Philadelphia defense. Linebacker Mychal Kendricks has missed three straight games with a calf injury, getting Kendricks back will be extremely helpful to the Eagles' defense.
Notes
The New York Giants leads the all-time series with the Eagles 83-75-2, dating back to 1933. The teams are an equal 2-2 in playoff games. The teams also split their two meetings last year; each winning on the other team's field. The Eagles beat New York 36-21 at MetLife Stadium on Oct. 6, 2013, and in that game tailback David Wilson suffered his career-ending neck injury. The Giants returned the favor by beating Philadelphia 15-7 at Lincoln Financial Field on Oct. 27, 2013.
For more Giants news and updates, visit Giants Central.
Curt Macysyn has been covering the New York Football Giants for the past two seasons for Examiner.com. Born and raised in northern New Jersey, Curt has followed and covered the New York Metropolitan sports scene for 35 years. He attended Seton Hall Prep School in South Orange, NJ and is a graduate of Rutgers University, New Brunswick. His work can be found on aExaminer.com.
