NFC East Week 7 Wrap: Giants, Eagles Win

The New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles won their respective games, the Giants doing so at the expense of the Washington Commanders, while the Cowboys rested on their bye. Let's see how the NFC East is starting to take shape.

Eagles 31, Dolphins 17

The Philadelphia Eagles donned their Kelly Green throwback uniforms and defeated the Miami Dolphins at home, 31-17, on Sunday Night Football.

The Eagles rebounded from their first defeat of the season the previous week by shutting down arguably the best offense in the NFL. Despite the final score, Philadelphia’s defense allowed only 244 total yards and just one touchdown to Miami’s fearsome offense.

Another major difference in the game was penalties: Miami committed ten penalties for 70 yards, while the Eagles went the entire night without drawing a flag.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 23 of 31 passes for 279 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception while also rushing for 21 yards and another touchdown.

Wide receiver A.J. Brown posted his fifth consecutive game with 125 receiving yards or more (tying an NFL record), catching ten balls for 137 yards and a score. Running back D’Andre Swift was the game’s leading rusher for either team, with 62 yards on 15 carries.

The Dolphins’ offense, deadly on both the ground and in the air, was forced to stick to passing as their rushing attack was a non-factor (just 45 yards). Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa completed 23 of 32 passes for 216 yards and a touchdown, with one interception. Tyreek Hill was Miami’s top receiver, with 11 receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown.

Philadelphia began the game with a 12-play, 71-yard drive that took seven minutes and six seconds, bolstered by a pair of 22-yard receptions by tight end Dallas Goedert. Jake Elliott kicked a 24-yard field goal to finish the drive and draw first blood.

Miami was forced to punt on their first possession but received an excellent scoring opportunity when Bradley Chubb forced a fumble from Hurts that Christian Wilkins recovered. The offense then drove to the Philadelphia 6-yard line, but a would-be touchdown pass to Hill was negated by an offensive holding penalty and instead forced the Dolphins to settle for Jason Sanders’s 40-yard field goal to tie things up at three.

The Eagles promptly extended their lead to 14 by scoring touchdowns on their next two possessions. The first was a 9-play, 61-yard drive that was finished by a 19-yard touchdown pass to Goedert. The second was a 12-play, 80-yard drive that ate nearly seven minutes of clock again and featured a 33-yard deep shot to Brown at the 1-yard line. Hurts finished it off with a “Tush Push” for the score.

But the Dolphins stormed back with an 8-play, 72-yard drive to get back in the game. Tagovailoa converted a 3rd-and-18 with a 29-yard strike to Cedrick Wilson Jr. and later threw a short pass to Hill that turned into a 15-yard reception. Hill finished the drive with a 27-yard touchdown catch, cutting Miami’s deficit to seven entering halftime.

In the third quarter, Miami had a great chance to tie the game by moving to the Philadelphia 21, but incompletions to Hill and Wilson on 3rd and 4th downs resulted in a turnover on downs. Instead, Miami’s defense would tie the game, as on the very next play, linebacker Jerome Baker intercepted a pass from Hurts and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown.

However, this would be as close as the Dolphins would get for the rest of the night. The Eagles wasted no time and retook the lead with a much faster-paced drive, accelerated by a 25-yard strike to DeVonta Smith. The 8-play, 75-yard drive would be finished by a 14-yard touchdown pass to Brown, and Philadelphia led 24-17 with the third quarter nearing its end.

The fourth quarter was all Eagles. Miami drove deep into Philadelphia territory, looking to tie the game again, but Tagovailoa was intercepted by cornerback Darius Slay at the 1-yard line.

Philadelphia then put the game away with a 13-play, 83-yard touchdown drive that took six and a half minutes; the drive was sustained by a pair of fourth-down conversions, both of them by Hurts. A 42-yard bomb to Brown at the 8-yard line would finally set up Kenneth Gainwell’s 3-yard touchdown run to conclude the scoring.

Miami turned the ball over on downs on their final drive, allowing the Eagles to run out the clock.

The Eagles are now 6-1 and comfortably in first place in the division. They also have the best record in the conference, one win ahead of the 5-1 San Francisco 49ers.

Dallas Cowboys (Bye)

The Cowboys, who sit at 4-2 in the division, enjoyed a Week 7 bye. They are next in action on October 29 at home against the Los Angeles Rams.

Giants 14, Commanders 7

The New York Giants defense took advantage of a struggling Washington offensive line that, coming into the game, had allowed the most quarterback sacks in the league. New York, who finished with six sacks on the day against Washington quarterback Sam Howell, doubled their season sack total in the first half alone with five of those sacks.

Quarterback Tyrod Taylor, filling in again for the injured Daniel Jones, completed 18 of 29 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns in yet another turnover-free game for him. The Giants might have had more than 14 points, though, in this game, were it not for a missing 41-yard field goal by kicker GRaham Gano and a fumble by running back Saquon Barkley deep inside the red zone.

The win snapped the Giants' four-game losing streak, their season record improving to 2-5, though they still firmly sit in the bottom of the division and are looking at a top-5 draft pick after seven weeks of play. Still, the win provided a confidence boost for a team that next week will see the New York Jets.

Washington, meanwhile, fell to 3-4 in what was a frustrating loss for them. They currently hold the 14th spot in next year's draft.

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