NFC East Fly By

 

The Games

Eagles @ Saints

Giants @ Falcons

Titans @ Redskins

Texans @ Cowboys

 

Eagles @ Saints

In a battle of 4-1 teams, both teams came into Week 6 looking to prove something. The Eagles were looking to show consistency and the Saints were looking to earn legitimacy. Right from the start, the Eagles looked sluggish and ill prepared as the Saints with their offensive yin and yang of Reggie Bush and Deuce McCallister had a productive day setting up the pass for Drew Brees. Despite 2 INTs by Brees, he was able to dissect the Eagles defense all day. The Eagles were able to give their fans hope though. After trailing by 14 at the half, the Eagles rattled off 21 unanswered points in the second half only to see their lead slip away as a result of blown coverage, dropped passes, and dumb mental mistakes. With the Eagles out of time outs, the Saints were able to drive down the field to set up the game winning FG by John Carney with 3 seconds left as the Saints won what was a statement game for them and left the Eagles scratching their heads.

 

Eagles 24 Saints 27

 

Giants @ Falcons

The matchup of Eli Manning vs. Michael Vick certainly lived up to it’s hype, even if the final score did not really reflect that. Neither QB threw for over 200 yards as most damage was done on the ground. Coupled with two TDs by TE Jeremy Shockey, the Giants offense was sizzling in this game as RB Tiki Barber had 185 yards rushing. The Falcons also had some nice plays on the ground as Warrick Dunn broke off a 90 yard TD run to start the 3rd quarter. In the end, the Giants would prevail with 253 total yards on the ground as well as knocking Falcons QB Michael Vick around a little bit in the process.

 

Giants 27 Falcons 14

 

Titans @ Redskins

After a disheartening loss to the Colts last week, rookie QB Vince Young felt he had something to prove with his team, the Titans. After falling behind by 11 points in the first half, the Titans appeared to be heading towards their fifth loss of the year. Young would show a lot of poise though, and rally his team back thanks to RB Travis Henry running for 178 yards in addition to Young throwing for a TD. With 5:11 left in the game, Rob Bironas kicked his third FG of the game to seal a victory for the Titans and give Vince Young his first NFL victory. For the Redskins, Clinton Portis rushed for 58 yards as the Redskins once again lost due to inconsistency on both sides of the ball.

 

Titans 25 Redskins 22

 

Texans @ Cowboys

During the emotional loss to the Eagles last week, WR Terrell Owens was very upset. Following this game, he should be very happy. The flamboyant Owens caught 3 TD passes, tripling his total up until that point against a woeful Texans team. The Cowboys were behind 6-3 in the second quarter until they exploded in the second half scoring 31 unanswered points and cruised to victory. Dallas RB Julius Jones rushed for 106 yards and Drew Bledsoe put last weeks poor start behind him with 2 TD passes in a big confidence building win for the Cowboys.

 

Texans 6 Cowboys 34

 

What does it mean for the Eagles?

This is a week that Eagles fans would love to forget. Even though Washington losing is always nice, the Eagles losing paired with the Cowboys and Giants winning is not good. The Eagles retain first place by a half game, but at this point of the season, every game matters and this was a game that could very well make or break the Eagles season as they get into the tougher part of their schedule in the upcoming weeks. The good news for next week is that the Eagles play a 1-4 Tampa Bay team and that the Eagles are known for coming to games hungry following painful losses. Also, the Giants and Cowboys will be playing each other meaning that one of those teams will fall further back in the standings to 3-3 by the end of Sunday. Also, the Washington Redskins will be playing a very tough opponent in the Indianapolis Colts.

 

The Eagles are still in first place—but for how long? This loss definitely hurts and could mean something, especially in this tough division. The best thing to do after this loss is remember that the Eagles are still a great team who got beat by a great team in the Saints coupled with the fact they never seem to do very well the week after facing the Cowboys. The Eagles will undoubtedly have a tough week of practice ahead of them as they prepare for the Buccaneers next Sunday.

 

Standings

 

Eagles 4-2 (1-1) @Buccaneers

Giants 3-2 (2-0) @Dallas

Cowboys 3-2 (1-1) vs. Gaints

Redskins 2-4 (0-2) @ Colts

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