What They’re Saying About Eagles-Giants

Here’s a roundup of what the national media are saying about Sunday night’s Eagles-Giants game.

SI.com’s Peter King goes with the Giants, 24-23:

The Giants are hotter, to be sure, with 61 points in their last five quarters. And Mike Vick (first three games: nine turnovers) is under pressure to play better or start fearing for his job — no matter how reassuring the words from Andy Reid are. Reid’s a performance guy, and Vick’s not doing the job in the first three weeks. This comes down to liking Eli Manning to make a few more plays in the fourth quarter than Vick, as simple as that sounds.

Mike Tanier of SportsOnEarth.com predicts a 23-16 Giants victory:

Players like Brown and Barden keep resurfacing because Tom Coughlin is a tough taskmaster with a heart full of gooey teddy bears, and because the Giants organization values the experience these players gained in the system. It is better to give one more shot to your own reclamation projects than to someone else’s.

Bereft of their backups, the Giants must now try to beat the Eagles with their starters. Eagles-Giants games never turn out the way they are supposed to, but the Giants will take control as soon as their pass rush gets two or three good licks on Michael Vick. In other words, the first Eagles drive.

Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com goes with the Giants, 27-23:

Long before Larry Fitzgerald was torching Nnamdi Asomugha last Sunday, Victor Cruz was doing the job last year. Cruz owned Asomugha in both Giants-Eagles games, so much so that Michael Irvin resorted to calling him “The Nnamdi Killer” on the NFL Network throughout the season. With the emergence of Ramses Barden and Andre Brown, the return of Ahmad Bradshaw and Hakeem Nicks, and a defensive line that will haunt Michael Vick all evening — I’m going with the Giants on the road.

Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com likes the Giants, 31-28:

The Eagles are having big problems with turnovers and Mike Vick is struggling. They are 2-1, but it’s been an ugly 2-1. The Giants are rested after playing last Thursday against the Panthers and seemed to get things fixed on defense. This is all about Vick vs. Eli Manning. The way Manning is playing, I’ll go with him.

Elliot Harrison of NFL.com goes with the Giants, 23-21:

Don’t look for an offensive explosion in this game, although both teams will put some points up. Big Blue will surely utilize the ground game with megastar Andre Brown (not really) and “starter” Ahmad Bradshaw, especially after Kevin Gilbride’s offense ran the ball so effectively in Charlotte a week ago. On that note, while the Eagles will be in this game throughout … and Michael Vick will use his legs more, the 10 days rest will serve the road club in this NFC East battle. This should be one of the best games of Week 4, and I would be shocked by a blowout from either side.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk predicts a 27-24 Eagles victory:

Eagles coach Andy Reid does his best work when his back is against the wall.  And his back is already against the wall.  And he said just enough this week to put his quarterback’s back against the wall, too.

Evan Silva of Rotoworld predicts a 23-21 Eagles win behind LeSean McCoy:

LeSean McCoy’s 16 touches against Arizona were a personal low when healthy since Week 12 last season. Coach Andy Reid acknowledged afterwards that he was mistaken to limit his top skill-position player’s involvement. Following the aforementioned Week 12 game, Reid gave McCoy 21 touches, which he took for 133 total yards and two touchdowns. I’d be willing to bet that McCoy’s usage won’t be a Week 4 issue, and his historical stats against the Giants suggest McCoy is set up for a bounce-back game.

Seven of 12 ESPN analysts are going with the Giants.

Only two of eight CBSSports.com experts think the Eagles will cover.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.