All bets are off when the Giants face the Eagles.
Two years ago, the Eagles’ comeback from a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit ruined the Giants’ season. Last year, in a Week 3 game at Philadelphia, Victor Cruz — who entered the game with two career catches — exploded for 110 yards and two touchdowns in an impressive Giants win.
“I think that’s one of the reasons why you’ve got to love playing [the Eagles],” Justin Tuck said yesterday. “You never know what’s gonna happen. It’s one of those games where you’re going into it and knowing that you’ve got to play your best game to win it. I think they feel the same way about us.”
There have been 154 regular-season meetings between the Giants and Eagles, and the average score has been Giants 19.1, Eagles 18.5. Sunday night in Philadelphia, the teams, both 2-1, will face off on national TV.
More important than who takes the early lead in the divisional race (Dallas is also 2-1) is the potential tie-breaker implications. Because the Giants lost the season opener to the Cowboys, they would fall to 0-2 in the NFC East with a loss to the Eagles. That’s a bad start and a potentially worse long-term issue.
“[Games are] all important. It doesn’t matter what your record is. You don’t really think about it in that term,” Eli Manning said. “You think, ‘Hey, we’ve got Philadelphia at Philadelphia.’ ”
Manning may be the better quarterback heading into this game, but the more intriguing one is the Eagles’ Michael Vick. The gifted quarterback has fired only three touchdown passes against a whopping six interceptions in the season’s first three games.
Vick may have lost the confidence of his head coach, Andy Reid.
“Right now, we’re with Michael [at quarterback] and that’s what we’re doing,” Reid said yesterday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We’ll evaluate it as we go.”
Reportedly, Reid later said, “Michael is our quarterback, period,” while on 94 WIP, a Philadelphia sports radio station. Keep in mind the Eagles’ backups are the relatively unknown duo of rookie Nick Foles and veteran Trent Edwards.
“I saw some plays in [Sunday’s] game where [Vick] still looked the same [as he used to] when he got out of the pocket and started running, but it’s tough,” Tuck said. “I think he’s had some injuries on the O-line and he’s getting some clean shots on him and obviously that’s going to take a toll on any player, not only him.
“But I think he still is one of the most dangerous people on the football field.”
Tuck and his teammates can attest to that. In the last two years, Vick has faced the Giants three times, his performances ranging from magnificent to pretty good to average. Overall, he completed 61 of 96 passes (64 percent) for 676 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, while running 28 times for 195 yards and two more TDs. However, four of his six scores against the Giants came in one game — the Eagles’ comeback win in 2010.
Tuck said he hopes on Sunday night the Giants can do exactly what they did in Week 3 last year in Philadelphia.
“Hopefully we have the same mindset we had last year, where it’s 53 guys going down here and that’s what it’s gonna take to win it,” Tuck said. “Every last one of us.”