STAR RECEIVER ODELL Beckham Jr shook off any concerns about his fitness with this ridiculous windmill catch during warm-ups.
But he couldn’t stop the New York Giants from falling to a 27-7 defeat against divisional rivals Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football.
The Eagles intercepted New York quarterback Eli Manning to take charge of the NFC East division. At 3-3, the Eagles are tied with the Giants atop the division with the advantage in the head-to-head-tiebreaker.
In a game littered by mistakes by both teams, Eagles cornerback Nolan Carroll came up with the decisive play, picking off a Manning pass and returning it 17 yards for a touchdown that gave the hosts a 14-7 lead in the second quarter.
Manning had a textbook start that included an eight-play, 80-yard drive on the opening possession of the game, ending in a 13-yard TD pass to Beckham.
But it proved to be the Giants’ only score of the game as Manning was sacked four times and penalized twice for intentionally grounding the ball.
Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford completed 24 of 38 passes for 280 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Riley Cooper.
But Bradford also threw three interceptions.
Running back DeMarco Murray had his first 100-yard rushing game with the Eagles, finishing with 109 yards on 22 carries.
The Eagles led 17-7 in the third quarter when they marched downfield on an 85-yard, 11-play drive that was helped by a roughing-the-punter call against Giants defensive tackle Nikita Whitlock.
The Eagles took advantage of that penalty, eventually scoring on a 12-yard run by Murray that put them up 24-7 with 6:13 to play in the third quarter.
Philadelphia’s defense kept the Giants at bay in the fourth, and Caleb Sturgis kicked a 39-yard field goal to make it 27-7 with 8:19 left in the game.
- © AFP, 2015, additional reporting Niall Kelly
