Man Up: McCoy's blocking, the O-line
LeSean McCoy didn't put up huge numbers against the Giants, but the Eagles would not have come back without him. Here's the player-by-player breakdown.
Apologies for being a day late with this. Mike Check will come Thursday.
Here's the player-by-player breakdown of how the Eagles' offense performed against the Giants:
Michael Vick- Vick was not comfortable or sharp for much of the game. Tomorrow, I'll take a look at what the Giants did to limit him - until the fourth quarter. In the fourth, Vick accounted for 246 yards (152 passing, 94 rushing) and three touchdowns. The biggest jaw-dropper was when he somehow ducked a blitzing Deon Grant and sprinted for 35 yards. The most important play was probably the 33-yard run when the Eagles faced a 3rd-and-10 from their own 12 on the final scoring drive. And the best improvisation was on a screen attempt that the Giants sniffed out in the fourth quarter. Vick scrambled and found Jason Avant for a gain of 13 while absorbing a big hit.
LeSean McCoy- The numbers were far from spectacular: 64 yards rushing, 23 yards receiving. But I can say with 100 percent certainty that the Eagles would not have come back without McCoy's execution as a blocker. He picked up a blitzing Aaron Ross on the touchdown throw to Brent Celek. He threw the key block on Vick's touchdown run. And Vick's touchdown to Jeremy Maclin would not have happened if McCoy didn't pick up a blitzing Grant. Three plays that won't show up in the box score, but were huge.
Owen Schmitt- Not much to say about him. Schmitt didn't have a touch, and I didn't see any outstanding blocks or missed blocks. He played 12 snaps.
Jerome Harrison- He played just seven snaps, once lining up with McCoy in the backfield. Harrison had a carry and a catch for a total of 10 yards. He did a poor job picking up a blitzing Kenny Phillips on a Vick throw in the fourth.
DeSean Jackson- He did not have a touch until the 58-second mark of the third quarter, the Eagles' 39th offensive play. The Eagles tried to set up a wide receiver screen to him earlier, but the Giants were all over Jackson, and Vick ended up taking a sack. He finished with three catches for 52 yards. Oh yeah, and that return at the end was pretty good, too.
Jeremy Maclin- He's quietly having an outstanding season. Maclin finished with seven catches for 59 yards and two touchdowns. He's got 10 TDs on the year, fourth-most in the NFL. Maclin had the big fumble at the end of the first half, which could have been ruled an incomplete pass. If Vick would have had a split-second more time on a third-quarter play, Maclin would have had a 63-yard touchdown. He beat cornerback Terrell Thomas badly, but Vick was hit and threw the ball short. If the game went to OT, we'd probably be talking about how clutch Macin's second TD with 1:16 left was. I'm not sure there are many receivers in the league who are better at making the catch while facing the quarterback and then turning upfield and making the defensive back miss. The under-the-radar moment for Maclin was his block on Thomas on the Celek TD.
Jason Avant- The block on the Jackson TD really epitomizes Avant's career. Clutch, tough, team-first always. As a receiver, he caught three balls for 35 yards. Avant had a nice 18-yard grab on 3rd-and-6 in the third. He probably should have caught a 3rd-and-3 throw that was a little high in the first.
Chad Hall- He was on the field for only three plays and didn't have a carry or a target.
Riley Cooper- He was on the field for only five plays, but the coaches must trust him because Cooper was out there on the red-zone possession that tied the game. And obviously the recovery on the onside kick was huge.
Brent Celek- I always pick up something when I re-watch these games. The Celek 65-yard touchdown that jump-started the comeback almost was an incompletion. If you take a look at it closely, Celek does not catch the ball cleanly. The ball hit him in the hands, he bobbled it once, and then he held on. Vick missed Celek, who was open for what would have been at least a 25-yard gain, on the final scoring drive. He was called for a pair of penalties - a holding and a false start. As a blocker, Celek got some help from Jason Peters, but did an excellent job on Osi Umenyiora on Vick's TD run. He couldn't keep up with Antrel Rolle, who blitzed on the play where Vick threw short to Maclin deep.
Clay Harbor- He only played nine snaps this week, finishing with one catch for 4 yards. Harbor failed to block Justin Tuck on a McCoy run that lost 2 yards.
King Dunlap- Dunlap had his troubles in pass protection, specifically when the Giants blitzed or disguised their rush to Vick's blind side. It looked like he was supposed to slide over and pick up linebacker Michael Boley, who blitzed and hit Vick on a third-quarter incompletion. Dunlap was slow to pick up Justin Tuck on a third-down incompletion. I'm not sure what his assignment was on the first offensive play, but Dunlap didn't block anyone, and Grant went right past him to deliver a hit on Vick. On the bright side, Dunlap did a good job in protection on the 18-yard completion to Avant in the third. I wouldn't say he's played well in Winston Justice's absence, but Dunlap didn't kill the Eagles either.
Max Jean-Gilles- I'm pretty sure Giants DT Barry Cofield was talking about Jean-Gilles when describing the Eagles' dirty play. Jean-Gilles was beat by Cofield on first Vick INT. He completely whiffed on his block on a screen pass to McCoy that was stopped for a 1-yard loss. And Cofield got in between him and Mike McGlynn to hit Vick as he missed Maclin deep. Jean-Gilles did a good job pulling on Vick's TD run in the fourth. He had played well in the previous two games, but had his struggles in this one.
Mike McGlynn- Chris Canty simply drove him back and chased Vick out of the pocket on the first INT. McGlynn and Todd Herremans both passed Rocky Bernard off on third down in the red zone in the first, and Vick was sacked. McGlynn completely whiffed on his block on a screen to McCoy in the third. He did a good job on a 12-yard McCoy run in the third. Also, friend loyal MTC reader Lemur texted me during the game to make sure I mentioned McGlynn's high snaps in Man Up. He's right. There were quite a few of those.
Todd Herremans- Herremans was excellent in the run game, but struggled in pass protection. He delivered a nice block on McCoy's 20-yard run in the first. Herremans also did a good job on McCoy runs of 11 and 12 in the third. In protection, he was beat by Canty on a third-down Vick throw in the first. Herremans was late picking up Tuck, who snuck over to the right side like a blitzing linebacker on a play late in the second quarter. He had trouble with Canty on a 9-yard completion in the third. And Herremans was beat by Cofield on a 13-yard completion to Jackson in the fourth.
Jason Peters- He had some ups and downs too. In the run game, Peters did an excellent job to drive Umenyiora back on the 20-yard McCoy run in first. He also had a good block on an 11-yard McCoy run. In protection, Peters got juked by Rolle on third down in the red zone in the first. Vick ended up getting sacked on the play. He was beat by Umenyiora off the edge on a first-down throw in the red zone in the fourth. And Peters was beat by Cofield on second down on the final scoring drive. He did a good job one-on-one on Canty on Vick's TD to Celek.
You can follow Moving the Chains on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.
Download our NEW iPhone/Android app for even more Birds coverage, including app-exclusive videos and analysis. Get it here.