Domowitch: Don't blame Eagles' defense for loss

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - I know, I know. To suggest that, with the exception of those four touchdown passes they gave up to the Giants, the Eagles' defense played pretty well Sunday, probably sounds an awful lot like the old line, "Other than that, how'd you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"

But here's the thing. It's true.

Yes, the Eagles spotted the Giants an early 14-0 lead, giving up a 26-yard touchdown pass to Odell Beckham Jr. and a 30-yard touchdown pass to someone named Roger Lewis Jr.

And yes, they gave up another touchdown to Beckham in the second quarter and a 32-yard scoring pass to rookie Sterling Shepard in the third quarter. It was the first time since last December that Eli Manning has thrown four touchdown passes in a game.

That's the bad news. The good news is that, after that happened to them, they did something they weren't able to do a week earlier in their overtime loss to the Cowboys. They displayed resilience and were able to make plays late in the game that gave the Eagles a chance to win.

"We put them in a good position to win the game and that's all you can really ask for," Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said after a 28-23 loss.

"Pressure bursts pipes. We didn't burst at all. We went out there and kept playing hard. We needed to make a play and Nolan (Carroll) came up with that interception.

"Then Connor (Barwin) tipped that ball and we got another interception near the red zone. We just couldn't make the plays (on offense) to get there. But I like where we're going."

Last week, the defense withstood an assault from Cowboys rookies Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott for much of the night but wilted at the end as Dallas marched 90 yards on 11 plays in the fourth quarter to tie the game on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Prescott to Dez Bryant.

Then, the Cowboys drove 75 yards on 12 plays in overtime with Prescott hitting Jason Witten for the 5-yard game-winner.

On Sunday, at the end, it was not the defense that let the Eagles down.

When Beckham ran the same slant route that he ran on the Giants' first possession for his 26-yard touchdown catch-and-run, Carroll not only prevented him from catching it but somehow managed to wrestle the ball from him and come up with an interception that gave the Eagles the ball near midfield with 10 minutes left and just eight points separating them and the Giants.

The Eagles' offense squandered the opportunity, going three-and-out.

After Caleb Sturgis made it a 28-23 game with a 38-yard field goal with 3:51 left in the fourth quarter, the defense forced another turnover. Barwin tipped a third-and-4 Manning pass and linebacker Jordan Hicks made a diving interception to give the Eagles the ball at the Giants' 34-yard line with 1:48 left.

But the offense once again came up small. Carson Wentz completed a 17-yard pass to Nelson Agholor to give the Eagles a first down at the New York 17. But that was as close to the end zone and a 5-3 record as they would get.

Manning completed 15 of 22 passes for 175 yards and three TDs in the first half, but was 7-for-14 for just 82 yards in the second half.

Beckham had just two catches in the second half for 19 yards. The Giants converted just four of 13 third-down chances overall. They finished with just 16 first downs and 302 yards, both below their season averages.

"We knew that they had a physical defense, so we had to do our part to get open," Shepard said. "We knew that they were going to be a physical group of guys, so we knew we had to bring our boxing gloves with us, so to speak. We knew it was going to be a physical game going in and that's what we were prepared for."

The Giants' first two touchdowns were set up by Wentz interceptions.

"When something like that happens, you just have to stay calm," Carroll said of the defense's rocky start. "You can't start yelling at each other or pointing fingers.

"It's a long game. You play four quarters, not one. We were in the game at the end. You're not always going to blow a team out. You're not always going to keep them out of the end zone or not give up big plays."

The big plays weren't pretty. Beckham's first-quarter TD should have gone for just 5 or 6 yards. But safety Rodney McLeod missed a tackle and Beckham walked into the end zone.

On Lewis's 30-yard TD on a third-and-10 play, cornerback Leodis McKelvin and safety Jaylen Watkins collided, which left Lewis wide-open for an easy touchdown.

On Manning's 32-yard TD pass to Shepard, the rookie beat safety Malcolm Jenkins for an easy score.

"Eli played well," Jenkins said. "He did what we thought he would do. Get rid of the ball quick. We tried not to blitz him because we know he's going to beat the blitz with his throws.

"We did a pretty good job of taking away some of the (throwing) windows and stopping the run pretty well (they held the Giants to 54 yards on 24 attempts).

"The thing that got us were just the big plays. Everything else, other than that, we felt really good about what we were doing. But the big plays hurt us. The first one to Odell on the slant, he steps out of a tackle and he's out of there.

"The next one was a fluke. We had two defenders run into each other. The third one, there's nothing you can really do about it because they had the perfect route for the coverage we happened to be in. We'd like to have those three plays back. But they're a good offense and Eli's a good quarterback and they made plays."

It's not going to get any easier for the Eagles' defense next week. They've got Matt Ryan and the Falcons.

Ryan threw for 344 yards and four touchdowns Thursday in a 43-28 win over the Bucs. Ryan is second in the league in passing with a 69.6 percent completion rate and 23 touchdown passes.

"It's just the little things that are biting us right now," Graham said. "But we're going to get it corrected. I think it's really going to start happening for us. We just gotta keep believing.

"Like coach (Doug Pederson) said (after the game), they went 1-5 back in Kansas City last year. Nobody believed they were going to go and win 11 games straight. But they did.

"I still believe we can get this job done. The season's a long way from over. There's so much crazy stuff that happens. We're still in the hunt."

* In his first four starts, Carson Wentz had seven touchdown passes and just one interception in 135 attempts. In his last four starts, he has two touchdown passes and four interceptions in 140 pass attempts.

* Wentz had four rushing attempts for minus-4 yards Sunday. For the season, he's rushed for just 36 yards on 23 carries. He has just five rushing first downs this season.

* Caleb Sturgis kicked off six times Sunday. Four were touchbacks. The other two were returned to the 12- and 14-yard line. Just one of his 47 kickoffs this season has been advanced beyond the 25-yard line (where touchbacks are spotted). And that was an end-of-the-half squib kick in Week 2 against the Bears.

* Darren Sproles had 16 touches from scrimmage against the Giants- 13 rushing attempts and three receptions. Last week he had 20 touches from scrimmage. His 36 touches the last two weeks equals the most he's had in back-to-back games in his career. The previous time was in 2007.

* Jordan Matthews was targeted 10 times by Carson Wentz, catching six passes. It was the third time this season and the ninth time in his career that Matthews has been targeted at least 10 times in a game.

* The Eagles were the last team in the league to give up a touchdown pass this season. In the last five games, they've given up 12.

* Wentz had his second 300-yard passing performance of the season, throwing for 364 yards. He joins Nick Foles as the only Eagles rookies with multiple 300-yard games as rookies.

* Wide receiver Bryce Treggs' 58-yard catch was the longest by an Eagles rookie since DeSean Jackson had a 60-yard reception in his first season in 2008.

* When Caleb Sturgis had a 40-yard field goal attempt blocked in the second quarter, it snapped a streak of 18 field goal attempts without a miss.

* In five games against the Giants, Jordan Matthews has 31 receptions for 356 yards and three touchdowns.

* In the last two games, running back Ryan Mathews has just nine carries for 25 yards.

* Wentz was 4-for-11 for just 36 yards on third down against the Giants. He had just one passing first down, giving him only 23 for the season. That's the fewest passing first downs on third down of any team in the league.

@Pdomo

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