Giants Defense Frustrated Carson Wentz, Eagles on Third Downs

The Giants shut out the Eagles on their nine third-down attempts, thwarting their division rivals' attempt to extend their winning streak over New York.

There were plenty of telling stats in the Giants' 27-17 victory over the Eagles on Sunday, New York's most complete performance of the year by far. 

But one of the most telling stats was arguably the Giants defense's perfect performance on third down. 

New York did not allow the Eagles to convert any of their third-down attempts. It was the first time since 2005 that the Eagles didn’t have a third-down conversion entering the fourth quarter.

It was also a big reason why the Giants defense, which earlier in the year was allowing third-down conversions at a per-game rate of at least 50% in all but one of their first six games, was able to control the Eagles' attack. 

"Third down is a critical part of the game," said Giants cornerback James Bradberry. "We pride ourselves on trying to get off the field on third down and we were able to do that today and execute."

It was not as simple for the Giants as just shutting down every facet of an Eagles offense, which was a lot healthier than the last time the two teams met. 

The Eagles were still able to have a productive day, particularly on the ground rushing for 156 yards, while quarterback Carson Wentz completed 21 of 37 passes for 190 passing yards. 

Still, the Giants' defense rose to the occasion on the plays that mattered most, fulfilling their bend-but-don't-break philosophy in a big way against an opponent they were desperate to beat. 

Eagles head coach Doug Pederson claimed that the biggest reason for the team's poor third-down efficiency was due to being caught in too many 3rd-and-long situations. 

Seven of the Eagles' third-down plays were from a down-and-distance of nine yards or more, which gave Giants' defensive coordinator Patrick Graham plenty of flexibility in his third-down playcalling. 

Because the Giants were able to limit the Eagles' options, the pass rush was able to get home with three sacks of Wentz, who at least didn't turn the ball over Sunday.

"They had a good game plan," Wentz said. "You got to give credit to that defense--they definitely disguised a lot of looks and brought all sorts of different pressures and made it tough on us."

When it came to third down, Wentz admitted that he and the offense became increasingly frustrated with each failed conversion, impeding their ability to execute on subsequent attempts. 

"That defense made it tough on us today and we got frustrated," he said.  

Pederson said it all boils down to execution.

"We just need to execute a little better in those situations," he said.