What happened to the Eagles/Giants rivalry? It used to be a physical defensive battle. Last night though the teams combined for over 800 yards and over 80 points.
Don’t get me wrong it was a very entertaining game but not what I expected. Every time the Eagles got a lead it seemed like the Giants responded. Three times the Eagles had 14 point leads (and another 13 point lead) but they couldn’t hold them.
The Eagles though are in total control of their playoff fate now. They are a game ahead of the Cowboys and 2 games up on the Giants in the division with a game against Dallas yet to come. With 3 games remaining and the Cowboys getting the Saints next weekend the division could be wrapped up soon.
Next week the Birds welcome the 49ers to Philadelphia for a 1:00 start. West coast teams always struggle with early starts on the East coast anyway but add to that a short week for the Niners and well a poor team to begin with and the Eagles should be 6+ point favorites next weekend.
The only question going forward for Philly should be…the running game. It seems like this is the question every single season but it rarely gets truly better. This year it started to look okay with Lesean McCoy but has recently fallen back to normal. Leonard Weaver had almost as many carries and had more yards than McCoy last night. And while Weaver looked good is he really going to be the #1 running back?
I am beginning to think that the problem isn’t in the running backs as much as in the running game. Andy Reid doesn’t want to run the ball and the reason is because he doesn’t know how to install a running game. McCoy, Brian Westbrook, Duce Staley, and many others have had the ability but once McNabb gained a solid grasp of the passing game and remaining in the pocket the run game began to fade and is now non-existent.
While a running game is not critical to winning a Super Bowl it is definitely something you would want to have some consistency by then. Hopefully I am wrong but I feel as though the Eagles running game (or lack thereof) will be too much of a hindrance to make the Super Bowl.
But with as good as the passing game is…maybe they have enough.
