Eagles upset Super Bowl champion New York Giants

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Remember how that first Eagles-Giants game wasn't as close as the final score?

This one wasn't, either.

Except this time, the team that dominated the line of scrimmage and the clock, the team that looked physically superior up front on both sides of the ball, was not the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

It was your Philadelphia Eagles, who won by 20-14 on the scoreboard, but by 331-211 in net yards, 24-14 in first downs, and 11-3 in rushing first downs. At one point, the Birds were on a 12-for-13 third-down conversion roll.

"We wanted to show that we're a physical team; we take pride in how physical we are. We kind of got pushed around that first game, so that was a point of emphasis coming into this game," said Eagles middle linebacker Stewart Bradley, who was credited with a team-high seven solo tackles. The Birds' defense very nearly pitched a shutout, against the NFL's highest-scoring offense. "It's easy to play good defense when the offense is rolling like that."

This was pretty much the opposite of the game these teams played Nov. 9 at Lincoln Financial Field, a 36-31 Giants victory in which the visitors rushed for 219 yards and controlled the ball for 39 minutes and 10 seconds. The Eagles' time-of-possession edge yesterday wasn't quite that remarkable (34:54 vs. 25:06) - it's hard to roll up horribly lopsided numbers if the opposition sticks with the run at all, and the Giants, of course, do - but the Birds had it for 20:36 in the second half, to the Giants' 9:24, and that right there was the game. New York's time-of-possession total was its lowest of the season.

"I thought both lines, offensive and defensive, just played their hearts out," said Eagles coach Andy Reid.

You thought the Giants would have a much easier time running it? Brandon Jacobs reinjured a knee in the third quarter and finished with 52 yards on 10 carries, 23 of them on one run. The Eagles kept eight men in the box, with no Plaxico Burress to worry about, targeted tight end Kevin Boss for manhandling, and outrushed the Giants, 144 yards to 88.

"It feels awesome," Eagles strongside linebacker Chris Gocong said. "We knew that we could do this; we've had the talent the whole time. It's just a matter of bringing it together."