Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants Preview | Week 11
Tonight, the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants will close out a wild Sunday of NFL action from MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands.
The Eagles, tabbed by many as the preseason favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, come into this one at 3-6, and will be missing playmakers Michael Vick and Jeremy Maclin on offense.
The Giants, on the other side of the coin, sit at the top of the division, and will need a win here to stay a full game ahead of the 6-4 Dallas Cowboys.
Here’s what to watch for tonight from New Jersey.
1. What Will the Eagles Get Out of Vince Young?
With Vick injured and out of the lineup, the reeling Eagles will now have to depend on the one-and-only Vince Young to keep their season on life support. Young, who famously labeled the Eagles as a “dream team” prior to the season, will be seeing his first meaningful regular season action since last November 21.
While Young’s scrambling style isn’t much different from that of Vick, it would seem likely to expect Andy Reid to get the ball out of his hands as quickly as possible. A heavy dosage of LeSean McCoy (through-the-air and on the ground) could be just what the doctor ordered here. The Giants lead the league in sacks (30), so Young may be forced to use that aforementioned scrambling ability more than Philadelphia would like. Missing a weapon as important as Jeremy Maclin certainly won’t be helping things, either.
A desperate team such as the Eagles simply can’t afford to let an erratic quarterback control their fate. Then again, this is an Andy Reid team, so who really knows what they’re thinking?
2. Mark Herzlich, Prince Amukamara Will Play for New York
With second-leading tackler and defensive signal-caller Michael Boley out with a hamstring injury, the Giants will turn to rookie Mark Herzlich to start at middle linebacker.
A former potential first-round pick, Herzlich’s career was derailed after being diagnosed with cancer prior to his senior season at Boston College. He came back to play a year later, but wasn’t the player that he was before the diagnosis.
Still though, the Giants signed Herzlich after he went undrafted, and he’s played in nine games on special teams this season. This will be his first action at linebacker as a pro, getting the call to start for Boley ahead of fellow rookie Greg Jones.
Amukamara, the team’s first-round draft pick out of Nebraska, will hit the field for the first time since suffering a broken foot early in training camp.
3. Can Eli Manning Deliver a Repeat Performance?
Manning has been enjoying one of his best statistical seasons to date, completing over 63 percent of his passes with 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions for New York.
In the week three win over the Eagles, Manning was absolutely brilliant, going 16-23 for 254 yards with a season-high four touchdowns and no picks.
The Eagles certainly have tons of talent in that secondary, but, like the rest of the team, it hasn’t performed up-to-par to this point.
He will once again have his full complement of receivers at his disposal, with Hakeem Nicks having returned last week in the loss to the 49ers.
4. Can the Eagles Play with Urgency?
Blowing fourth quarter leads has been Philadelphia’s biggest problem all season long, as it’s looked as though they’ve graduated from the Chris Johnson School of Indifference.
They seem to have bought into their own hype, and it’s come back to bite them in a bad way. They clearly have more than enough talent necessary to succeed, but just haven’t been able to completely put it together. On-paper talent can only take you so far.
With their season likely over should they drop to 3-7, we should be seeing the Eagles playing with a sense of true urgency for the first time all season.
I just couldn’t depart your web site prior to suggesting that I extremely enjoyed the standard info a person provide for your visitors? Is going to be back often to check up on new posts
As a website owner I believe the material here is reallywonderful. I appreciate it for your hard work. You should keep it up forever! Best of luck…