Odell Beckham Jr. looked like he was about to torch the Eagles.
But then something happened.
Beckham in the first quarter was targeted four times by Eli Manning, catching all four for a total of 30 yards, 13 accounting for the Giants' lone touchdown.
Midway through the quarter, with Byron Maxwell trailing him across the field, Beckham caught an 8-yard pass to convert a 3rd-and-1 and give the Giants a first down on the Eagles' 23.
But on the next play, DeMeco Ryans ripped the ball away from tight Larry Donnell, the Eagles scored the tying touchdown, the Giants didn't score again, and the Eagles tied them for first place in the NFC East with a 27-7 victory.
Late in the quarter, Maxwell was called for holding Beckham, who didn't appear at all hindered by the hamstring injury that had him listed as questionable entering the game.
Yet in the final three quarters, Beckham was targeted only four more times, catching three of them for a total of 31 yards. All seven of his receptions came in the first half; he was targeted only once in the second half.
Why?
"It was just the way the game went," Beckham said. "They did a great job of causing some havoc, and we did not help ourselves out."
The Eagles didn't make any adjustments.
"We didn't really change anything," Nolan Carroll said. "For whatever reason, Manning just stopped looking at him. I guess our guys up front did a good job getting him rattled a little bit."
Eagles defensive coordinator Billy Davis did say after the game that the front four's ability to generate pressure on Manning in the second half allowed him to put an extra man on Beckham rather than blitz (see story).
The Giants initially took the Eagles by surprise, coming out in 12 personnel (one RB, two TE, two WR) and marching 80 yards in eight plays. Donnell and rookie tight end Will Tye combined for three receptions for 38 yards on the drive before Beckham scored his fourth touchdown of the season.
"They hit the back and the tight end early," Davis said. "Then the touchdown, we had a double on [Beckham], but then they motioned empty, and it came off. We had some miscommunication, and all of a sudden Beckham was one-on-one with a linebacker, so it wasn't a good call."
Then for some reason the Giants stopped using 12 personnel.
"They were in 12 personnel, and we played a little more zone than we had planned to," Malcolm Jenkins said. "We were expecting more 11 (one RB, one TE, three WR), so when you play zone versus Eli — he's been doing it all year — he just carves it up."
Jenkins had one theory for why the Giants switched personnel packages.
"Me personally, 12 personnel's a little boring," he said. "Some people like to spread that thing out and throw it. Twelve personnel's a little boring. I don't know. I'm glad they didn't stay in it."
And the Eagles continued to do three things: They in one form or another blanketed Beckham.
"We had him doubled a lot of the night," Davis said. "Even when he caught a couple, he caught them with a lot of attention his way. Other than the touchdown, that was the only breakdown we had. But the rest of the night, we put a lot of attention on him."
They stopped the run — Giants running backs averaged 3.1 yards per carry — and they manhandled Manning, who threw for a season-low 189 yards, was intercepted twice, and recorded a passer rating of 62.3.
"We had some tools and just some techniques that they hadn't seen," Davis said. "When a guy has a playbook on the line of scrimmage, you have to give him something he hasn't seen before. That's all we did. Just a couple new looks. The guys executed it, and Nolan Carroll ended up getting a pick-six out of one of them. The guys just played well with the new stuff we put in."
Manning held onto the ball too long, and the Eagles' front four feasted. The Eagles recorded three sacks — none in the first quarter — and seven QB hits.
"They handle everything. They make it work up there," Maxwell said. "They stop the run and rush the passer. What more can we ask for?"
Asked what they did coverage-wise, Carroll was coy.
"We're disguising. That's what messes you up — it messed him up too," he said.
Walter Thurmond was more forthcoming.
"Just a mixture of some man, mixture of some Cover 2 that we haven't run all season," Thurmond said, "so that was a really good look for us, where he didn't know what was going on out there and had to hold the ball a little bit longer, and our front four were able to get the rush on him. I think we did a very good job of disguising our coverages and not letting him get a tip on what we were running. I think he was confused out there."