Giants Fly High in Philly

The NY Giants defeated their hated rival the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania at Lincoln Financial Field this past Sunday afternoon. The GMen played well on both sides of the ball as well as special teams. Eli Manning was the elite QB that he needed to be greatly contributing to the team’s success. 4 TDs and no interceptions put you in the highest tier of NFL QBs. 2 of those TDs were to the man than Giant fans are hoping will emerge as a consistent 3rd WR, Victor Cruz. Cruz is in his 2nd year out of the University of Massachusetts. He was a star high school player from Paterson,NJ who went on to star at UMass. For whatever reason he went undrafted and signed with the Giants. Up until Sunday’s game his greatest contribution was a 3 TD performance against the NY Jets in a preseason contest in 2010. Since fellow WR Mario Manningham was out Cruz was given the opportunity to start on Sunday. He took the opportunity and ran with it. Also taking advantage of an opportunity was LB Jacquan Williams. The rookie South Florida product saw increased playing time and cashed it in by making 10 tackles. His fellow USF alumnus DE Jason Pierre-Paul recorded another 2 sacks and is the league leader in that category for the young season.
The Giants didn’t turn the ball over but forced 3 turnovers in the form of 3 INTs,2 of which were made by CB Aaron Ross. The defense was swarming but Eagle RB Lesean McCoy did gain almost 130yds. Another mistake was made when Giants Punter Steve Weatherford actually kicked the ball to Eagles threat to return it for a TD Desean Jackson. It was no harm no foul though Giant Coach Tom Coughlin was seen making a note in his chart!
This was a critical win by the Giants. Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride who has been called Kevin Killdrive at times is to be commended. He put a fantastic gameplan together. The call for 3& Brandon Jacobs to run a wheel route past LB Casey Matthews set the tone that this wasn’t the usual Giant offense. This win can be the start of a great run or just a peak of an up and down season. More performances like this one will result in more peaks instead of valleys.