From: jmd@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (joseph.m.dakes)
Subject: Eagles Report
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 18:42:39 GMT
Keywords: Philadelphia 47, NY Giants 34


The game between the Eagles and the Giants yesterday was the most
unusual of the day.  It was also the most unusual game between the
two teams perhaps only to be rivaled by THE FUMBLE game.  But there
was nothing unusual about the result.  It was the Eagles fourth
victory in a row over the Giants and the eighth out of the last
nine.

I usually don't go into a play-by-play rehash of the game, but I
saw alot of interest expressed in how the Eagles came back from
a 20-6 first quarter defecit.  So, here goes:

The Giants converted a Randall Cunningham interception into a 3-0
lead to open the scoring.  On their next possession they drove
over 80-yards on the GANG GREEN finishing the drive with a 14-yard
pass from Hostetler to Meggett.  Giants 10-0.  The Eagles began to
move the football late in the first quarter.  The drive continued
into the second quarter and ended on a 21-yard pass from Randall
to Herschel.  The PAT failed, but the Eagles were on the board
trailing 10-6.  Meggett returned the ensuing kickoff 92-yards and
the Giants and their fans were pumped leading 17-6.  After fine
coverage by the Giants on the kickoff, the Eagles started on their
own 15-yard.  Herschel broke up the middle for an 8-yard gain on
the first play, but was stripped of the ball.  The Giants recovered
and were going for the knockout blow early.  But the GANG GREEN
was up to the challenge forcing the Giants to settle for a 44-yard
FG and a 20-6 lead.

Giants fans can stop reading here because after that it got real
ugly for the home team.  A safety blitz by Wes Hopkins forced
Hostetler to run right and throw left in the direction of Meggett.
Seth Joyner stepped in front of the errant pass and returned it
43-yards to cut the lead to 20-13.  The Eagles then tied the score
on an 11-yard run by Herschel Walker late in the second quarter.
But the Eagles weren't satisfied with only 20-points in the quarter.
Cunningham led the Eagles down to the Giants' 20.  WR Roy Green
dropped a sure TD on first down.  On third down Randall floated a
ball into the endzone that was intercepted and the Giants started
from their own 20.  The GANG GREEN forced another Giants turnover
which gave the Eagles time for one HAIL MARY pass.  It was
intercepted in the endzone and the halftime score was 20-20.

The Eagles took the lead, which they never relinquished, on their 
first possession of the second half.  Under sever pressure Randall
avoided the rush and just flipped a pass out to Keith Byars.  Byars
grabbed the ball at shoelace level, turned and sprinted 38-yards to
give the Eagles a 27-20 lead.  The GANG GREEN forced the Giants to
punt on their first possession of the second half.  The punt was
blocked by Ken Rose who scooped up the ball and returned it for a
TD and a 34-20 Eagles advantage.  The Giants next possession went
nowhere as they were forced to punt again.  This time the return
was on for the Eagles and Vai Sikahema returned the punt 87-yards,
an Eagles record, for a 40-20 Eagles lead.  Thirty-four (34)
unanswered points!  And then to add insult to injury (or should
that be injury to insult?), Hostetler was knocked out of the game
on the Giants next possession.  Some guy named Graham replaced Hoss
and he took the Giants in for a score to narrow the gap to 40-27,
but the damage was already done.  The Eagles responded with their
own TD on a 30-yard Heath Sherman run to go back up by 20 and seal
the victory.  Hampton closed out the scoring at 47-34 on a 2-yard
run.

The Eagles improved to 7-4 with a visit to San Fransisco on their
agenda next week.  The battered Giants fall to 5-6 with a holiday
trip to Dallas awaiting them.

Eagles report card:
==================

QB:  C.  Randall was 10-21 for 209-yards with 2 TDs and 3 INTs.  The
one INT was a hail mary at the end of the first half so he can't be
blamed for that.  But he threw a terrible ball into the endzone on the
Eagles previous possession.  He looked very shaky in the first half,
but made some big plays in the second half which should give his
confidence a big boost.

RBs:  B+.  Heath Sherman gained 109-yards on 17-carries including a
30-yard TD run.  Herschel gained 61-yards on ten tries and was very
effective catching the ball.  Herschel grabbed four balls for 79-yards.
He did have that one fumble, but more than made up for it with two TDs.

Receivers:  C-.  Keith Byars returned to TE and played for the first
time in a month without a cast on his broken right hand.  Byars
caught two balls including one for a 38-yard TD.  The wideouts were
held to four catches for 79-yards.  The sure-handed veteran Roy Green
dropped two balls one of which was for six.

OL:  B-.  They gave up four sacks in the first half, but they seemed
more due to Randall's indecision rather than terrible blocking.  They
opened enough holes to allow the Birds to pick up 184-yards on the
ground.

DL & LBs:  A-.  They didn't look great early on.  But when the Eagles
needed to make a big play trailing 20-6, they made it.  And once they
made one big play they really turned it up a notch.  Eight sacks by
the GANG GREEN and they limited the Giants to 94-yards rushing.

Secondary:  C+.  They were horrible early on.  But the coverage picked
up after the first quarter.  Alot of the GANG GREEN's sacks were a
result of Hostetler having nobody open.  Rookie Mark McMillan saw alot
of action at CB and played very well.

Special Teams:  C.  This is an average of three categories, return
teams (A+), coverage teams (F), and PAT teams (F-).  Coverage sucked
and the PAT team was even worse.  The Birds gave up a 92-yard return
and the PAT was so bad that holder Jeff Feagles actually blocked one
of Ruzek's attempts.  The return teams, on the other hand, were
brilliant.  They accounted for two TDs.  Sikahema set an Eagles record
with an 87-yard punt return.

Overall:  B.  But it was an exciting game, at least for us Eagles
fans.


E-A-G-L-E-S

Joe Dakes
AT&T Microelectronics
555 Union Boulevard
Allentown, PA  18103
alux1!jmd

Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro