New York Giants top Philadelphia Eagles, 29-16, as Michael Vick breaks hand
This wasn’t the way things were supposed to go for the Philadelphia Eagles. This wasn’t part of the ambitious plan that was put into motion back when they were busy assembling an enviable collection of talent in a frenzied post-lockout shopping spree and were dubbed a dream team by their own freshly signed backup quarterback, Vince Young.
Only three games into their would-be magical season, things have gone at-least-temporarily awry for the Eagles. They lost a second straight game Sunday, this time by 29-16 to the New York Giants here at Lincoln Financial Field, and they might have suffered a far more significant setback when quarterback Michael Vick exited with a fractured right hand.
“It’s tough, you know,” Vick said. “Everything is not going to be fine and dandy and we understand that. .?.?. Things are not going our way right now. But it’s up to us to get it turned around and I think it will happen.”
It’s not clear how long the injury to his non-throwing hand might sideline the left-handed Vick. The quarterback is scheduled to undergo further medical testing on Monday, Eagles Coach Andy Reid said. Vick didn’t rule out playing with the injury but said it was too soon to know.
“I don’t know if I’m going to be able to play next week,” Vick said. “I don’t know anything right now except my hand is broken and we have to figure out what is the next move.”
The Eagles’ record dropped to 1-2. They opened the season with a crisply played triumph at St. Louis. But they followed that by losing a fourth-quarter lead in a defeat eight days ago in Atlanta in which Vick suffered a concussion and failed to finish the game. So three games into the season, the Eagles have two losses and have squandered two fourth-quarter leads, and Vick has been unable to finish two games. They’ve been outscored, 29-0, in the fourth quarters of their past two games.
“Obviously we didn’t have enough big plays offensively and they hit too many on us defensively,” Reid said.
Quarterback Eli Manning threw four touchdown passes for the Giants, who improved their record to 2-1. They have followed a season-opening loss to the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field with victories over the Rams and Eagles.
The Giants ended a six-game losing streak to the Eagles that included a defeat at the Meadowlands last Dec. 19 in which they wasted a 21-point lead with a little more than eight minutes to play and permitted a game-winning touchdown by the Eagles’ DeSean Jackson on a punt return as time expired. The Giants have had a lengthy list of injuries of their own this season, and they had defensive end Osi Umenyiora and wide receiver Mario Manningham on their inactive list Sunday.
“You’ve got to aim high,” Giants Coach Tom Coughlin said, “and you’ve got to be able to work your way through all of these things.”
Wide receiver Victor Cruz had two touchdown catches for the Giants. He made two Eagles defenders miss tackles on a 74-yard touchdown in the first quarter and outmaneuvered two defenders to grab a 28-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
