Eagles vs. Giants -- LIVE!

1:22 p.m.: The Eagles, whose offense was a mess the first time these two teams met, ran six plays on their first drive -- and they all worked. The offense did more on that drive than it did in several games this season combined. That was way too easy. But I've seen this before. They're going to give up 42 straight points now.

And now Andy Reid calls for a QB sneak on 4th-and-1 from the Eagles 35, and McNabb converts it. Has Reid gone mad? Or is he so sane he's blown all our minds?

1:28: McNabb dashes out to the right on 3rd-and-7, sprints to the sidelines, and throws the ball away. Hooray! Maybe No. 5 has learned something after all -- QBs CAN throw the ball away. I think he was a hair faster on that play than he has been on every previous scramble this season.

1:32: Eagles defense forces the Giants to go three-and-out again. Eli's got the look of a fawn that got lost from its mother and wandered into the middle of I-78.

1:33: A tongue-tied Merrill Reese just referred to McNabb as "McNut." Freudian slip? Reid calls another gadget play -- a double reverse ending with a 40-yard pass by Greg Lewis into double coverage. Every so often, it's as if Reid reacts to being called conservative by making up plays Mad Libs-style. But Lewis' throw looked a hell of a lot better than most of A.J. Feeley's ... hmmm.

1:39: Lito Sheppard is called for a personal foul for "slamming the ballcarrier into the ground unnecessarily," referee Ron Winter said. Are you joking, Ron? That's called a tackle. If Sheppard doesn't slam Sinorice Moss down, he will run toward the other end of the field. That's called a touchdown. The Giants escape a 3rd-and-15 and are alive and kicking.

1:47: Reuben Droughns runs for 35 yards to the Eagles 1 on 3rd-and-1. Brian Dawkins showed he still has speed and power, catching and slamming down Droughns at the 1. Teams too often get caught in those situations overloading toward one side of the line, and that's what happened.

1:49: "They stack him up again!" Eagles D holds on 3rd-and-goal from the 1 despite an offsides penalty two plays before. Coughlin settles for the FG. Wise move considering the Philly defense looked Dr. Bruce Banner finding out he should have switched to Geico.

1:57: A question I've often wondered: During a play, how hard is it to be semi-aware of where you are on the field? The Eagles just cost themselves a drive because Reggie Brown and Westbrook didn't know they were inches from a first down on two straight plays.

2:01: After a good start, the Eagles are failing to pressure Eli. He has time to make throws, and Burress, Toomer and Shockey are good enough to get open.

2:04: Players who get called for illegal contact (when it's legit) should receive a one-game suspension from their team. It's usually unnecessary, and almost always obvious. The rule is simple: No touching the WR after 5 yards. What's so hard to understand?

2:06: Trent Cole introduces Eli to the Linc's new DD GrassMaster turf/grass blend for the second time today, stopping a Giants drive cold at midfield. That's 11.5 sacks this season for the DE.

2:10: McNabb fires to BWest lurking over the middle for to convert on 3rd-and-short. Which brings up another vital question: Has any other QB in the history of the NFL thrown harder short passes than McNabb. He's like the guy in your dorm who's never played Madden before, and you challenge him to a game and only tell him about the "bullet pass." McNabb's going to break BWest's hand one of these days.

2:16: R.W. McQuarters breaks several sloppy arm tackles, returning a punt to the 50 with 1:24 left before halftime. I'm not sure how McQuarters isn't in the CFL right now. I'm also not sure how the Eagles offense could look so good for one drive and so mediocre on every other.

2:23: A short field goal makes it 7-6. With 12 seconds on the clock, and facing third and long from about the Eagles 15, Eli throws a 10-yard pass. The Giants had one timeout, and they were saving it to set up for the FG attempt. So obviously, you ought to go to the end zone in that case. The field is in pretty good shape. Tynes should be able to make a kick from there (about 33 yards) if the throw is incomplete. But they didn't even take a shot at a TD.

2:40: The officials rule Brandon Jacobs fumbled, and the Eagles recover at the Giants 8. Coughlin challenges. It's really a tough call. It seems this season that the whole "must be conclusive evidence" standard has been softened. I've seen calls where there wasn't enough such evidence, and the call was overturned anyway. My first instinct here was incomplete pass, but the call on the field was a fumble. That means the replay would have to have rock-solid evidence to the contrary, and it doesn't seem to.

And the verdict is ... fumble. The system works. And the Eagles promptly shoot themselves in the foot with a false start and a sack. Osi Umenyiora again.

2:46: The boos are showering down. A fumble recovery at inside the Giants 8, and the Eagles didn't even get close to the end zone, settling for an FG. The red zone offense this year has been less reliable than a bullpen with Tom Gordon, Jose Mesa and Antonio Alfonseca (as if that could ever happen ... oh, crap) Lito Sheppard again is called for touching a WR beyond 5 yards. He doesn't get it.

2:52: The Eagles couldn't intercept a pass right now if you spotted them the ball and possession. Dawk can still get there, but he and I have the same number of picks this year.

2:56: Westbrook: 10 carries, 51 yards. McNabb hurls a laser to Kevin Curtis on 3rd-and-3. In lacrosse, they call that a "hospital ball." Fortunately for Curtis, no Giant was waiting for him when he twisted around to snap the pass. The Birds seem to have no interest in going downfield at this point -- unless Greg Lewis is throwing. On 3rd-and-long, McNabb gives a glimpse of himself about 5 years ago, somehow ducking away from Kevin Dockery blitzing free from his CB spot.

3:04: Merrill calls the Eagles defense "charging, firebreathing." And he's not exaggerating. Eli doesn't even have time right now to do his "aw, shucks" shrug.

3:08: Westbrook fumbles on a screen pass at the Eagles 38. The playcalling just isn't cutting it.

3:10: Amani Toomer fumbles after a catch at the 20. Eagles recover. Or not. The refs reverse the call, saying Toomer was down by contact (isn't it convenient for the NFL how there's no clear definition for that term?) Reid throws the red flag, but to no avail. I'd like to know why the refs reversed the original fumble call. And Ron Winter's explanation of "he was contacted when he was on the ground" makes little sense. When Toomer was touched, he fumbled. So either his elbow hit and he was down, or he fumbled. Being touched had nothing to do with it.

3:15: Burress catches an easy slant and goes in for a TD. 13-10 Giants.

3:18: McNabb takes a sack on first down. He was running out to the right, with three Giants in pursuit. THROW THE BALL AWAY! He doesn't have the speed to get away from defenders anymore, and he's reluctant to throw the ball away when the rules say he can. This will plague McNabb for the rest of his career unless he can change his habits.

Now he, not Eli, is the fawn on I-78. Actually, make that the Schuylkill Expressway.

3:22: The Eagles have no one who can cover Burress. Without illegal contact. Dawkins is out with an injury, and the Giants are in control.

3:25: Eli throws behind Burress on 3rd-and-goal. FG makes it 16-10. If Eli could throw a precise pass, the Giants would have at least a 10-point lead. But it may be moot because the Giants are starting to get pressure on McNabb, and either the WRs aren't getting open or the QB isn't electing to throw the ball.

L.J. Smith is out with injury and won't return.

3:31: Two carries by Westbrook, and the Eagles are in Giants territory. Let's see if they stick with him. 12 carries, 81 yards.

3rd-and-1 and they give it to Westbrook, who gets stacked up inches shy. Why not run a sneak? It worked before. But because they didn't their backs are against the wall.

3:37: Giants offsides on 3rd-and-3 gives the Eagles a gift first down. It's good to see someone else do that for a change. Two plays later, McNabb takes another sack on the sidelines because he failed to throw the ball away. Perhaps he needs to see a shrink. He may have some sort of complex. An Akers FG makes it 16-13. McNabb is having a meltdown. If you listen carefully, you can hear the calls for Kevin Kolb.

3:47: The refs don't understand the neutral zone infraction rule. And boy, does Burress make the Eagles look silly. I don't know why Eli doesn't throw to him every time.

Jacobs breaks free but fumbles at the 5! Eagles recover! Bad news: The offense has to come onto the field.

3:57: On the back on Westbrook, the Eagles move into Giants territory. Then on 3rd-and-5, Reid calls a run. Loss of 1. On fourth down, McNabb throws over the middle incomplete to Avant. It appeared Avant was hit before he caught the ball, but guess what? Avant was still a yard short! Hey Andy, how about drawing up a fourth-down play where receivers get to the marker? Oh, and if that were the Patriots, you can be damn sure the flag would have been thrown. So what does that say about credibility in the NFL?

4:05: No Westbrook miracle this time. Eagles start from their 10 with under a minute and no TOs. Once again, the Eagles show they have no clue how to do a hurry-up offense. They run two pass plays, for a gain of about 35 yards, and are left with 12 seconds. A pass play to Reggie Brown than takes 6 seconds and should have taken 4.
A 57-yard attempt by Akers hits the right upright with 1 second left. It would have been good from 59 or 60.