PHILADELPHIA — From start to finish, the Philadelphia Eagles dominated the New York Giants on offense, defense and special teams.
Nick Foles threw two touchdown passes and LeSean McCoy had a season-high 149 yards rushing to help the Eagles beat the Giants 27-0 on Sunday night for their first shutout in 18 years.
“As a collective unit, as an entire team, we did a tremendous job in all three phases,” cornerback Cary Williams said.
A rough night for the Giants (3-3) became worse when wide receiver Victor Cruz tore the patellar tendon his right knee while leaping for a pass on fourth down from the Eagles 3 in the third quarter. Cruz, a 2012 Pro Bowl pick, was crying and holding his hands to his face as he was carted off the field with an injury that’s expected to end his season.
“Huge loss,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “It wasn’t a good situation, a grim scene.”
Wearing all-black uniforms for the first time in franchise history, the Eagles (5-1) stayed tied with Dallas (5-1) for the lead in the NFC East. They hadn’t shut out an opponent since a 24-0 win over the Giants on Dec. 1, 1996, at old Veterans Stadium.
Foles had 248 yards passing, Darren Sproles ran for a score and the offense had a rare strong start.
The defense harassed and pressured Eli Manning often, sacking him six times and preventing New York’s upstart offense from getting on track. The Giants had won three in a row, scoring more than 30 points in each victory.
“It’s a good reminder that you just can’t show up on the field and have things go well for you automatically,” Manning said. “We got outplayed, outperformed.”
Manning was sacked only seven times in the first five games before Connor Barwin (three), Vinny Curry (two) and Trent Cole (one) took him down. Brandon Graham and Brandon Bair sacked Ryan Nassib to make it eight for the defense.
“When you have a guy with his experience and intelligence, you disguise a little more,” defensive coordinator Billy Davis said about facing Manning.
The Eagles entered with 11 offensive touchdowns and seven from their defense and special teams. But Foles and Co. didn’t need much help in this one.
Foles tossed a 15-yard scoring pass to Zach Ertz for Philadelphia’s first offensive TD in the first quarter this season. Ertz made a diving catch, dragging his feet to stay in bounds.
Foles hit a wide-open James Casey for a 26-yard TD pass to make it 17-0 in the second quarter. Casey had only one catch this season and hadn’t scored a TD since 2012 with the Texans, but the Giants bit on a play-action fake and left the third-string tight end open running down the middle.
“We want to start faster and that’s what we did,” Foles said.
Sproles had a 15-yard TD run to put the Eagles ahead 27-0. He left the game with a left knee injury and didn’t return.
Foles’ pass was intercepted by Antrel Rolle inside the red zone on a poor pass off his back foot late in the second quarter. He threw another pick to Zack Bowman in the third quarter, but the Giants’ ensuing drive ended with the incomplete pass on which Cruz was injured.
McCoy had more yards rushing in the first quarter than he had in full games against Washington and San Francisco. McCoy, an All-Pro last year, had struggled this season, averaging 2.9 yards per carry. But he has more career yards rushing against the Giants than any NFL team.
“I never lost confidence in myself; you guys did and the people out there did,” McCoy said.
The Giants were without Rashad Jennings, who entered the week as the NFL’s fifth-leading rusher. Rookie Andre Williams started for Jennings, out with a sprained left knee.
Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks missed his fourth straight game because of a calf injury. But linebacker DeMeco Ryans played despite being limited in practices by a groin injury.
Cody Parkey kicked field goals of 31 and 45 yards. The rookie is 12 of 13 with a pair of 51-yarders this season.
NOTES: Foles leads the NFL with 10 turnovers (seven interceptions, three fumbles). He had 29 TD passes, including playoffs last year, and only two picks. … Parkey’s 45-yarder was his first FG attempt between 40-49 yards. … Manning finished 13 of 23 for 151 yards.
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