Giants 'D' drops McNabb, Eagles in record-setting fashion

Updated: Oct 1, 2007, 07:16 pm

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The New York Giants had so many sacks they actually felt bad for the kid trying to protect Donovan McNabb from Osi Umenyiora and a sack-happy defense.

Scouts Buzz

It became obvious from the Eagles' opening drive that the Giants were going to bring pressure and attack Donovan McNabb, particularly up the middle. They stunted their best pass rushers inside to get to McNabb. They blitzed MLB Antonio Pierce up the gut. They stood up Mathias Kiwanuka and Osi Umenyiora on passing downs with presnap movement and shot them through the A or B gaps. Generally, the Giants' ability to get to the quarterback comes off the edges, but they made McNabb move his feet to avoid pressure and test his healing knee, while still often generating exceptional pressure off the edge. When flushed, McNabb did not show the quickness or ability to escape that he had previous to the injury. Also, without Brian Westbrook in the lineup, the Eagles were not able to exploit the fierce rush with effective screens or explosive edge runs. Meanwhile, the cornerbacks played physically at the line of scrimmage and the Eagles' wide receivers couldn't get off the jams, destroying the timing of routes.


-- Matt Williamson, Scouts Inc.


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Umenyiora had a team-record six sacks and the Giants (2-2) set a franchise record and tied a league record by sacking McNabb 12 times in a 16-3 victory that brought back memories of Lawrence Taylor intimidating opposing quarterbacks at will.

"Last week we able to get some pressure on the quarterback," said Umenyiora, whose sack total was one shy of Derrick Thomas' NFL record. "We knew we would eventually get some sacks. We have some of the best pass rushers in the league on this team. We put it all together today."

Coming into the game, the Giants (2-2) had only four sacks in three games.

They had five against the Eagles (1-3) after the first half, and Umenyiora ended up having a career game against second-year left tackle Winston Justice, who was filling in for an injured William Thomas.

"It was like a video game out there," Umenyiora said. "Winston Justice is a very good football player. Tonight was just one of those nights. He'll learn from that experience."

Mathias Kiwanuka added three sacks, Justin Tuck two and Michael Strahan one in an awesome display by a defense that was ranked as the worst in the league after giving up 80 points in its first two games.

Kawika Mitchell returned a fumble 17 yards for a touchdown and Eli Manning threw a 9-yard TD pass to Plaxico Burress, a score that, of course, was set up by a sack.

Lawrence Tynes added a 29-yard field goal in the third quarter, but he also missed a 34-yarder and an extra point.

Sack Masters

New York Giants
The Giants' defensive performance ranks among the most dominating in NFL history. Here's where it ranks:
MOST TEAM SACKS
Year, Team
Opp.
Sacks
2007, GiantsEagles12
1985, CowboysOilers12
1984, BearsLions12
1980, CardinalsColts12
1966, CowboysSteelers12
QB SACKED MOST TIMES
Year, Player, Team
Opp.
Sacks
07, Donovan McNabb, PHIGiants12
85, Warren Moon, HOUBears12
80, Bert Jones, BALCardinals12
MOST SACKS SINGLE GAME
Year, Player, Team
Opp.
Sacks
90, Derrick Thomas, KCSeahawks7.0
07, Osi Umenyiora, NYGEagles6.0
98, Derrick Thomas, KCRaiders6.0
83, Fred Dean, SFSaints6.0

Strahan's sacks gave him 133½ in his career, breaking Taylor's franchise record. Coincidentally, Taylor served as an honorary captain for the game.

Strahan was more concerned with Justice.

"That poor kid that they had over there," Strahan said. "Why didn't they help him? I felt, in an odd way, you could ruin the guy. It's his first start and that's what he gets. It's not a good thing."

Justice accepted responsibility.

"I am going to shoulder the loss for the team," he said. "I got out of my technique, tried to make adjustments and they just didn't work."

The Eagles (1-3) had a horrible effort in falling three games behind Dallas (4-0) in the NFC East.

"It's frustrating," said McNabb, who finished 15-of-31 for 138 yards. "For an offense that has had so much success over the previous years, for us to come out and play the way we played today is embarrassing."

Besides the sacks, Philadelphia had 15 penalties for 132 yards, including a dreadful illegal forward pass against McNabb with 2:24 to play. It nullified a 20-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Brown and prevented the Eagles from drawing within 16-10.

Eagles left tackle Jon Runyan said the Giants didn't do anything different.

"We did all the bad stuff, putting ourselves in bad situations and third and long," Runyan said. "That's just telling the defense exactly what you are going to do."

David Akers, who missed a 42-yard field goal in the second quarter, made a 53-yarder earlier in the fourth quarter to get Philadelphia on the board.

The Eagles, who beat the Detroit Lions 56-21 last week, were short-handed for the game, missing running back Brian Westbrook, cornerback Lito Sheppard, safety Brian Dawkins and Thomas.

This is the fifth time a team had 12 sacks. The last was Dallas against the Houston Oilers on Sept. 29, 1985.

The game pitted new Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo against his old mentor Jim Johnson, the Eagles longtime defensive coordinator. Spagnuolo had been the Eagles linebacker coach for the past three years.

While both defenses dominated, the Giants had an advantage going against an Eagles offense that was without Westbrook, its catalyst. The halfback who led the NFC in rushing after last week sat out with an abdominal strain.

The Eagles were limited to 212 yards and 3-of-11 on third down conversions.

Umenyiora's second sack set up the Giants second-quarter touchdown. It forced the Eagles to punt from deep in their end and R.W. McQuarters returned the kick 11 yards to the Eagles' 49.

Manning engineered a four-play drive, starting with passes of 19 and 17 yards to Amani Toomer. The score came as Burress outjumped Sheldon Brown in the corner of the endzone to give the Giants at 7-0 lead with 11:09 remaining in the half.

The Giants had a chance to extend the lead late in the second quarter but Omar Gaither intercepted a pass deep in Eagles territory.

Tynes' field goal pushed the lead to 10-0 late in the third quarter. It capped a 55-yard drive aided by a 32-yard pass-interference penalty by Eagles cornerback William James.

The fumble return by Mitchell iced the game less than a minute later.

McNabb took the handoff from his 22 following an illegal formation penalty and bumped with fullback Thomas Tapeh. The ball came loose. Correll Buckhalter could not recover it and Mitchell eventually picked it up and scored.

The Eagles challenged the play, but the call stood.