For the third straight week, an opponent had their way with the Giants defense.  Donovan McNabb was 17-23 for 240 yards and three touchdowns as the Eagles hung 40 on an overmatched Giants defense.  But why was it all so easy for McNabb, who was extremely accurate with the ball on Sunday?  We’ll closely examine six plays.
Following the King’s advice from Alice in Wonderland, we’ll begin at the beginning.

- On Philadelphia’s first play from scrimmage, the Eagles lined up with LeSean McCoy in a single back set with three receivers to the right, and one to the left.  TE Brent Celek was standing bunched in the slot with another WR.  All four standing recievers, including Celek, ran patterns.  The Giants, late, blitzed two linebackers up the middle.  McCoy, who had chipped to slow down the rush, scooted around the blitzers to give McNabb an easy short throw despite the pressure in his face, and the Eagles had 16 yards and a first down. Who was covering McCoy?  No one really, although S Michael Johnson eventually brought him down.

- Two plays later, fullback Leonard Weaver ran up the middle for a 41-yard touchdown.  The Eagles were in a balanced formation with a WR and a TE to each side, with just Weaver in the backfield.  The blocking scheme at the line was very simple, each Eagle lineman blocked the Giant defender on his left shoulder.  And that was the first key: the Eagles offensive line won the play by blowing the Giants line off the ball.  As Weaver approaches the line of scrimmage, 20 seconds into this video, the rear end of every Eagle lineman is on the Giants side of the ball.  With that kind of blocking up front, Weaver is immediately in the second level.  The second key to turn a big play into a touchdown, was Giants safety CC Brown all the way on the offensive right side, outside of the tight end.  He never caught up to Weaver, who outran him down the field.  7-0 Eagles.

- After Asante Samuel picked off Eli, and the Eagles had a Celek touchdown called back by a holding penalty, they faced third-and-goal from the Giants 17.  Celek lined up to the offensive right, with his hand down in the classic spot for a TE, with two WR to his side, and one to the left.  The Giants chose to rush only four, and the Eagles’ back on the play entered the pattern.  Still with five linemen blocking four rushers, McNabb had a nearly perfect pocket around him to step up into, as the Eagles offensive line won again.  Meanwhile, Celek ran straight up the seam.   Johnson was lined up over Celek in a nickle look on third and long, and Celek simply beat him down the field.  McNabb dropped the pass right in front of S CC Brown and Bruce Johnson, who appear to be in a cover-2, responsible for deep middle, although neither player covered anyone on the play.  13-0 Eagles

-After the Giants made it 16-7 on a drive where both Kevin Boss and Hakeem Nicks made nice plays on balls in the air that Manning delivered just close enough for his guys to grab, the Eagles struck quickly again.  This time on their first play after the Giants touchdown, on first-and-10 from their own 46, Donovan McNabb hooked up with DeSean Jackson for a 54 yard touchdown.  Philly lined up with a single back, a WR to the right, and Jackson split to the left, with Celek and another receiver bunched inside of him in the slot, just outside the tackle.  At the snap, Celek and the receiver next to him came down and help out in the pass protection since there were six Giants threatening to rush.  Five rushed, and one stayed with Celek who eventually leaked out as a dump off option for McNabb.  No Giant rusher was within a few feet of McNabb who once again had a very clean pocket from which to throw.  Whereas earlier, five Eagles were out in patterns, now just three are downfield: the WR to the right, the back who swings out to the right, and Jackson, all alone on the left side.  Jackson ran a corner route, digging up the field past CB Cory Webster, before angling to the sideline steps ahead of S CC Brown.  This has to be some kind of zone, perhaps more cover two, because Webster made no attempt to run with Jackson.  Brown was late on the play, but Webster failed on this play as well.  At the snap, at 1:43 on the video, Webster had his head turned inside and was gesturing with his hands to catch his teammates attention.  Was he trying to change a coverage?  In any case, he did not get any kind of jam on the fleet Jackson, who started behind the line of scrimmage.  Jackson was simply too fast for the Giants secondary, the line held up perfectly again, and McNabb delivered the ball on the money to Jackson who caught it in stride.  23-7 Philly.

- After a Manning’s second pick, the second turnover in the two-minute drill at the end of the first half for the second time in three weeks, the Eagles took over up 23-7 at the Giants 43.  McNabb found Celek up the middle for 20 yards, and then went up the left side to rookie Jeremy Maclin for 23 yards and a touchdown with :52 seconds left in the half effectively ending the game.  The Eagles were in their standard set with one back, three receivers and Celek.  Celek was lined up with his hand down, with two receivers outside of him on the offensive right side. Maclin was man up against Corey Webster, who was pressing him on the weak side.  Maclin released to the outside, but then beat him with a little juke to the inside, and with Webster trailing, McNabb again fit the ball into a perfect window in front of CC Brown who was late in the end zone.  The Giants rushed four, and once again, McNabb had a very comfortable pocket. 33-7 Eagles.

- Ahmad Bradshaw’s 1 yard touchdown run brough the Giants to withing 33-17 at the end of the third quarter, but again, the Eagles had their way with the Giants defense, scoring on their very next possession to squelch any thoughts of a Giant comeback.  On 3rd-and-a from the Philly 34, the Eagles bunched two WR, including DeSean Jackson and Brett Celek in the tight slot of the right side, with Jeremy Maclin  alone, split wide left.  The offensive line exploded off the ball, knocking the Giants back at least a yard at the point of attack.  Jackson bluffed a reverse around the offenive left end, holding the defensive right side including, Osi Umenyiora from attacking down the line of scrimmage.  The playside LB and safety, again CC Brown, also read end-around, and attacked outside Umenyiora, opening up a huge cutback lane for LeSean McCoy.  40-17.  Ballgame.

Take Home Messages
- The most consistent thing about these plays is that each time, the Philadelphia offensive line simply won their engagement with the Giants front.  On the passing plays, McNabb had a cushy pocket.  On the running plays, the Giants had no penetration while the Eagles were pushing them around.

- CC Brown was late every time.  Not many defenders can chase down DeSean Jackson, but safeties need to have the speed to catch a fullback.  The Giants clearly miss SS Kenny Philips.

- Michael Johnson (Celek) and Cory Webster (Maclin) each were beaten when they were given 1-on-1 responsibilities.

- The linebackers were MIA on the big runs, overpursuing and opening cutback lanes.

- McNabb, who all the time a QB could ever want, was very sharp.

Is the Giants defense fixable?  They haven’t generated any pressure nor covered a receiver in weeks and face a series of very strong quarterbacks in good offenses to finsh the season.  You think Philip Rivers isn’t excited to throw to Vincent Jackson next week in the Meadowlands?  How about Matt Ryan in week 11?  Kyle Orton, Tony Romo, Brett Favre and McNabb again all confront the Giants in the season’s final six weeks.
The Giants, at 5-3, could still make the playoffs with easier games against Washington and Carolina on the schedule.  Minnesota might be locked into a seed by the time the teams meet in week 17.