Special teams save game for Birds
EAST RUTHERFORD >> Someone called it a block party.
The Eagles snuffed an extra-point attempt, a field goal attempt and a punt Sunday at MetLife Stadium. And it earned them a 34-29 victory, clinching a bye in the playoffs.
The carnage put the Giants in a serious bind down the homestretch, as they had to try and get into the end zone with 48 seconds left rather than attempt a field goal on fourth down at the 11-yard line of the Eagles.
Then again, the way the Eagles got after the kickers, a late attempt would have been rejected, too.
“That was the difference in the game, special teams coming through on a day where as a team, offensively and defensively we didn’t play well,” kick returner Kenjon Barner said. “We wiped out a couple of points for them just with blocked balls. It was huge.”
The Eagles are the first team to hit the PAT, field goal and punt block trifecta in the same game since the Bills did it to the Patriots in 1991. The Bills snuffed two field goals in that game. And they lost 16-13.
The Eagles went to work early, Derek Barnett bursting into the path of Aldrick Rosas almost untouched and swatting the ball away like Joel Embiid on a mission. Later the Giants tried to make up the difference with a two-point attempt that was stuffed by the Eagles.
“They just called the call and we executed it,” said Barnett, who blocked a Robbie Gould field goal attempt when the Eagles opposed the 49ers at Lincoln Financial Field. “You all saw what we saw.”
Late in the second quarter, special teams ace Kamu Grugier-Hill blocked Brad Wing’s punt and Corey Clement recovered to set Nick Foles’ third touchdown pass of the first half, a 13-yarder to Trey Burton giving the Eagles a 21-20 lead.
“It just opened up,” Grugier-Hill said. “It felt good just to get in there, make a play and ultimately just make up for what we did last week.”
Last week the Eagles exposed veteran punter Donnie Jones to a jailbreak, the Rams blocking his kick and taking it to the house. The Giants got close to Jones, just not enough to snuff him.
Early in the fourth quarter veteran safety Malcolm Jenkins, who’d had no success on field goal block, found a crease and blotted out a 48-yard Rosas field goal attempt that would have staked the Giants to a lead.
It hardly seems a coincidence the Eagles had a big week after signing veteran Bryan Braman to fortify special teams. Braman once blocked three punts in a game for the Texans.
“A lot of people feel like the extra point is really point-less and doesn’t have any weight as far as the outcome of the game goes,” Braman said. “But that happening early in the game to them, it definitely changes up the play-calling for their offense. That’s one of those things you’ve really got to think about.’
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The Eagles started Chance Warmack at left guard in place of the injured Steve Wisniewski (ankle), who was scratched.
Warmack was OK. Left tackle Hal Vaitai was the offensive lineman who had the most issues. He gave up a blindside sack to Olivier Vernon that popped the ball away from Foles. Barner recovered for the Eagles at the 49-yard line of the Giants.
The Eagles also activated offensive tackle Will Beatty, the former Giant, who had been scratched since joining his new team.
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On the injury front, the Eagles lost slot cornerback Patrick Robinson to a head injury.
The absence of Robinson forced Jenkins to play the slot, and the Eagles to mix and match coverages throughout the day.
Jalen Mills had a tough day on the left side, as he was beaten for a touchdown and committed a pair of costly penalties in the first half.
Ronald Darby was torched throughout the day, although his 37-yard interception return in the second quarter stoked the Birds’ comeback.