The Philadelphia Eagles got their first division win of the season after defeating the New York Giants on Monday night by the score of 27-7.
The Eagles got off to another slow start in this one.
On the opening drive of the game, Giants quarterback Eli Manning completed four first down passes to put the Giants in the red zone. Odell Beckham Jr., who missed all of practice this week with a hamstring injury, scored on a 13-yard touchdown reception to give the Giants a 7-0 lead.
The Eagles offense went three-and-out on their first possession of the game, making it their fourth game to start with a three-and-out.
Manning completed each of his first ten passes, but it was all downhill after that for the Giants offense.
On Manning's 11th throw of the night, he was intercepted by linebacker DeMeco Ryans. Ryans also recovered a forced fumble by Malcolm Jenkins.
The Eagles offense almost went three-and-out again after the Ryans interception, but a roughing the passer penalty on Damontre Moore kept the drive alive for the Eagles offense.
Two plays later, Sam Bradford found Riley Cooper on a 32-yard touchdown pass to tie the game up at 7-7. Cooper also had a 45-yard reception in this game.
Manning came into the game with only two interceptions on the season. On the Giants fourth drive of the night, Manning threw his second interception of the night. This one going to Nolan Carroll, who returned the ball 17 yards for a touchdown, giving the Eagles a 14-7 lead.
The Eagles never gave the lead back, and the Giants never got the chance to score again.
A bad punt by Giants punter Brad Wing set the Eagles offense up to score a field goal at the end of the first half, giving Philadelphia a 17-7 lead at halftime.
The Eagles defensive line was dominant from start to finish.
In the first half, Brandon Graham made a huge play in the first half on running back Rashad Jennings, resulting in a turnover on downs for the Giants offense. Vinny Curry sacked Manning on a third down to force the Giants to punt. Graham made a big play on another third down for the Eagles defense, batting down on a Manning pass and forcing the Giants to punt the football.
In the second half, the Eagles defense forced the Giants to punt on each of their five drives.
On the first drive of the second half for the Giants offense, Fletcher Cox forced Manning to fumble, but it was recovered by the Giants. On the second drive of the second half, Connor Barwin pressured Manning into a intentional grounding penalty. Manning was hit for the final time of the game on a third-and-22 by Graham.
The Eagles offense, especially Bradford, gave the Giants too many chances to make a comeback by turning the ball over.
Jayron Hosley, the backup for injured cornerback Prince Amukamara, picked Bradford off in the first half on an overthrown ball.
On the opening drive of the second half, wide receiver Jordan Matthews fumbled the ball on a hit by linebacker Uani Unga.
On the first play of the third possession in the second half for the Eagles offense, Bradford was intercepted by Brandon Meriweather on a deep pass intended for Cooper.
On the fourth drive of the second half, Bradford was intercepted again by rookie Landon Collins in the end zone.
Fortunately for Philadelphia, the defense forced the Giants to punt after each of their turnovers.
Running back DeMarco Murray surpassed 100 rushing yards in a single game for the first time in his Eagles career.
Murray, last year's rushing champion, got off to a slow start with the Eagles offense this year. He was averaging under three yards per carry going into this game. Tonight, Murray rushed for 109 yards on 22 carries. He landed a stiff arm on Meriweather to score a touchdown in the second half, and the Eagles took a 24-7 lead.
A late made field goal by Caleb Sturgis gave the Eagles a 27-7 lead, which ended up being the final score of the game. Sturgis was two-for-two on field goal attempts, making one from 37 yards out and one from 39 yards out.
At 3-3 overall, the Eagles now sit at the top of the NFC East division.
Michael Malia is a contributing intern for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Facebook (Michael Malia) or Twitter @Michael_Malia.
