Eagles Defense Makes Crucial Stops

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Defense wins championships, of course. And if you’re in the playoffs, chances are you’re playing it pretty well. Like the Philadelphia Eagles. In a 23-11 NFC Divisional Playoff win over the N.Y. Giants this afternoon, it was the Eagles’ defense that stepped up to the challenge of stopping the NFL’s best rushing offense en route to the NFC Championship game next week at Arizona.

For all the deserved hype that was the Giants’ “Earth, Wind and Fire” (running backs Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw) this season, the Eagles had other ideas. Sure, Brandon got 92 yards on 19 carries, but on two crucial 4th down plays, it was Eagles’ defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley who played the role of earth mover, causing the Giants to turn the ball over on downs. This Eagles defense is something of a no-name group. Among household names like Brian Dawkins and Asante Samuel, you’re looking at guys like Stewart Bradley (the team’s regular season leader in tackles and in on 11 stops today), Quintin Mikell and Chris Gocong. Together, they rattled Giants quarterback Eli Manning into completing about half of his passes for just 169 yards. Still, Brian Dawkins wasn’t exactly savoring the moment:

“I won’t say satisfying. Satisfying is for when it is all said and done, and it’s not. We have more work to do.”

Source: PhiladelphiaEagles.com