was supposed to look like If the New York Giants were going to have any realistic chance of having a successful 2018 season they had to have a victory Sunday against the Houston Texans. They got that desperately-needed victory by a 27-22 score Cheap B.J. Hill Jersey , and it wasn’t an accident.For the first time this season, Giants’ football looked the way new coach Pat Shurmur and Co. hoped it would.The Giants were efficient and explosive on offense, especially in the first half. They were opportunistic, especially in the second half, on defense. They didn’t hurt themselves on special teams.Sunday began with the news that Ereck Flowers was no longer a member of the Giants’ starting offensive line. It ended with the first victory of the Pat Shurmur era. And renewed optimism that the Giants, underdogs on Sunday and facing the potential of a disastrous 0-3 start, could do good things in 2018.The Giants once again failed to reach the 30-point plateau, a mark they haven’t hit since the final game of the 2015 season when Tom Coughlin’s career with the team was ending. Still, when J.J. Watt wasn’t wrecking their plans, they showed the variety of weapons that could make their offense special.The Giants scored the first four times they had the ball, with a pair of touchdowns and a pair of Aldrick Rosas field goals. Saquon Barkley, again showing that he is virtually impossible for the first defender to tackle, took advantage of the best run-blocking the Giants have given him this season. Barkley had a 15-yard scoring run, a 24-yard run, and ended up with 17 carries for 82 yards.When it was winning time in the fourth quarter, nursing a 20-15 lead and needing a drive, it was Barkley the Giants leaned on. On a 9-play, 77-yard drive that ended up giving them a commanding 27-15 lead with 5:29 remaining Barkley carried the ball three times and caught two passes for 27 yards, including a 21-yard catch when he lined up as a wide receiver.“We found a way to finish the game. We started with a nice play to Shep, then we ran the ball a little bit. We found a way to complete some passes, and then obviously at the end, score there,” Shurmur said.Eli Manning was an incredibly efficient 25-of-29 for 297 yards, two touchdowns and a passer rating of 132.3. He was sacked four times, three by Watt Cheap Dalvin Tomlinson Jersey , but generally had time to set his feet and step into his throws. Shurmur also moved him left and right, creating some easy throws. Manning was as good as he’s been in a long, long time.Manning took advantage of mismatches all day, just like the Giants hoped he would be able to do if they could block well enough to give him a chance.“That’s how I see playing offense. You deal up a progression. Dial it up and then the ball goes where it’s supposed to go. If it gets out on time, we really trust all of our players out there,” Shurmur said. “The last touchdown was designed really to go to Odell (Beckham Jr.) isolated. They doubled him, so Eli went back and threw the ball to Shep (Sterling Shepard). That’s just the way this thing works, and it was good.”Manning was told after the game that he seemed more comfortable in the pocket than he had been the first two weeks.“I thought we did a good job having a good plan to get the ball out. The ball was coming out fast, could see what they were doing. The offensive line was blocking, doing what they were doing, they were blocking things up and we didn’t have the mistakes,” Manning said. “I thought we kind of condensed the offense a little bit and made sure guys knew what they were doing. Plays that they knew, they were playing fast, the offensive line was playing fast and we have good players, just let them go play. Let’s not try to be perfect and trick or do too much. Let our guys go win, because we got good athletes.”Relying heavily on various crossing routes, Manning completed 9-of-10 passes directed at Odell Beckham Jr. for 109 yards. When the Texans jumped Beckham and left single coverage elsewhere, the Giants took advantage of that. Sterling Shepard caught six passes for 80 yards, Rhett Ellison three for 39 and a touchdown, Barkley five for 35, Evan Engram one for 19 before being hurt and Cody Latimer one for 15.Defensively, as the game rolled into the latter stages and it looked like momentum was shifting to the Texans, the defense came up with a pair of critical takeaways to keep Houston at bay.Late in the third quarter, Kerry Wynn knocked a ball away from Lamar Miller and Donte Deayon recovered at the Giants’ 25-yard line. Houston’s next possession reached the Giants’ 8-yard line, but a penalty http://www.giantscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-alec-ogletree-jersey , sack and outstanding athletic interception by Alec Ogletree in the end zone ended that opportunity.Wynn was terrific. Damon Harrison dominated the middle. B.J. Hill and Lorenzo Carter got their first sacks. The Giants did enough in the secondary. They survived a game without Olivier Vernon and Eli Apple.Can the Giants build on this?That’s a really good question.Shurmur said his first victory as Giants’ coach “feels special because we’re making progress.”Will they, however, sustain it and make it meaningful?The Giants return home next week to face the New Orleans Saints, 2-1 after a 43-37 overtime victory Sunday over the Atlanta Falcons. That won’t be an easy game against Drew Brees and Co., a team with a terrific offense but a defense that can be taken advantage of.The Giants showed us Sunday what they can be. What they will be remains to be seen. “This is what we were itching for, itching for a win. Guys had a great week of preparation, so it shows us how we should prepare, and if we want to keep this feeling then that’s what we have to keep on doing,” Shepard said. “Everybody was freaking out about the two games but we remained calm as a team.”Beckham was well aware that one victory does not mean all is well in the Giants’ world.“We have to get some more wins and start putting them together,” he said. “We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves, because it’s just one game. Now we have to start tacking it on, build off this today and keep improving.”What they managed to do Sunday, though, is to get a reprieve and make things interesting going forward. New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Two teams, and fan bases, that largely don’t like each other. With a game between the NFC East rivals looming Thursday, let’s venture into enemy territory and learn some things about the Eagles. Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation answers our 5 questions.Ed: What is your assessment of the Eagles thus far? I thought they would win this division in a cakewalk, and they still might, but I’m surprised to see them at 2-3.Brandon: It’s safe to say the reigning Super Bowl champs have been a disappointment through the first five games of the season. This has been a team that just can’t stop shooting themselves in the foot. Take their most recent loss to the Vikings for example. After finally starting to string a promising drive together, Lane Johnson allows Carson Wentz to get strip-sacked and Linval Joseph recovers for a touchdown. Then they get another drive going and actually move into the red zone but Jay Ajayi fumbles at the 5-yard line. The Eagles recover a fumble at the Vikings’ 30-yard line with a chance to take the lead and then proceed to knock themselves out of scoring range by taking an illegal formation penalty followed by a grounding call. Mistakes are always going to happen during the game but it feels like the Eagles continue to make theirs at the worst times. Part of the reason the Eagles haven’t been able to get out of their own way is they have a number of position groups that are underperforming. The offensive line is arguably the biggest disappointment in this regard. After having one of the best lines in the league last season, Philly’s front is suddenly struggling to protect Carson Wentz. The third-year quarterback has been sacked 12 times and hit 27 times during his first three games back from ACL injury. I certainly don’t need to lecture Giants fans on the importance of offensive line play.Jim Schwartz’s defense isn’t off the hook, either. The Eagles’ secondary has been far too leaky. Philadelphia ranks 26th in big-play rate allowed. In the Eagles’ past two games, opposing quarterbacks have combined for 60/80 (75% completion), 645 yards (8.1 average), 4 TD Cheap Jon Halapio Jersey , 1 INT, and a 98.8 passer rating. Put simply, the Eagles just aren’t playing like a good team right now.Ed: How much are they hurt by the loss of Jay Ajayi, and if the Eagles are indeed interested in a LeSean McCoy reunion is that something you would be in favor of?Brandon: Losing Jay Ajayi is significant because he’s the Eagles’ most talented running back, when healthy. The problem is he hasn’t been healthy this year. Prior to tearing his ACL, he suffered a fractured bone in his back during Week 2. I don’t know how he managed to play through both that AND a torn ACL against the Vikings, but that just goes to show you he’s one tough dude.Ajayi is the Eagles’ leading rusher this season with 184 carries and three touchdowns on 45 attempts. He hasn’t been Philly’s most efficient ball-carrier, though. Surprisingly, fourth-string running back Wendell Smallwood leads the team in rush average at 6.0. In addition to his 150 yards on 25 carries, he’s logged 10 receptions for 96 yards and one score. He’s far from an elite back but he deserves some credit for stepping up.With Smallwood playing well and Corey Clement returning, I’m not ready to flat out panic about the Eagles’ running back situation. Those guys can be at least solid behind an Eagles offensive line that’s struggled in pass protection but has looked good while run blocking. But there’s certainly a lot of room to improve and getting a top weapon like Le’Veon Bell or LeSean McCoy would be really nice right now. The Eagles’ offense rank 28th in big-play rate. They need more play-makers.From a football standpoint, I think McCoy could make sense for the Eagles depending on the cost. From a personal standpoint, I don’t love the idea of rooting on McCoy given all the off-field stuff that’s going on with him.Ed: Where do you think the Eagles have a clear advantage in this game?Brandon: Well, in theory the Eagles’ defensive line should be able to get to Eli Manning. The Giants’ offensive line ranks 24th overall by Pro Football Focus. Football Outsiders, meanwhile, has New York ranked 31st in run blocking and 26th in adjusted sack rate. It seems like the Giants should struggle against an Eagles pass rush that’s generating the highest percent of plays where the opposing quarterback has been under pressure (57%), per PFF. The Eagles could very well make life difficult on Eli Manning and force him into some bad throws and/or sacks.Ed: Where do you think the Giants could have an advantage?Brandon: On the other hand, the Eagles’ pass rush didn’t really faze the Giants last year. Manning had two of his best games of the season against Philly. The Giants were able to get the ball out quick and it felt like the Eagles couldn’t stop the same slant route that the Giants were running over and over. The Giants should even be more difficult to defend now that Odell Beckham Jr. is back. You can be Pat Shurmur will try to get OBJ matched up against Eagles starting cornerback Jalen Mills, who has struggled this season. During last year’s Week 3 Eagles-Giants game, Mills was targeted a whopping 21 TIMES. New York saw a weakness and they tried to exploit it. It wouldn’t surprise me to see them go after Mills again this year.Ed: If you could have one player off the Giants roster for the Eagles NOT named Saquon Barkley or Odell Beckham, who would you take?Brandon: I’ll take Landon Collins. The Eagles are dangerously thin at safety right now with Rodney McLeod out for the season and veteran backup Corey Graham now dealing with a hamstring issue. Philadelphia’s three healthy safeties include: Malcolm Jenkins, Avonte Maddox, and Deiondre’ Hall. Jenkins is obviously a great player. Maddox isn’t even a real safety. The rookie cornerback never played on the back end of the defense until two weeks ago. The Eagles acquired Hall during final cuts and he hasn’t seen any defensive playing time despite the fact Philly is depleted at safety. Collins would fill the Eagles’ biggest need. I also considered Damon Harrison because he’s dominant and the Eagles are getting nothing out of their defensive tackles not named Fletcher Cox. Sterling Shepard would also help an Eagles wide receiving corps that’s not giving the team a ton right now.