PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Lesson of the day for all Philadephia Eagles haters: you can mess with them, but messing with their beloved Rocky statue is going too far.
In a healthily-hyped Monday Night Football showdown between bitter NFC East rivals, Eli Manning the New York Giants were supposed to put a plethora of scores up on the board at Lincoln Financial Field in what could have become a lopsided away advantage.
That was certainly not the case.
The Eagles and their defense brought Manning and the G-Men right back to where they dwelled last season, slashing them by a final of 27-7 in an ugly home win that totaled seven turnovers.
Manning threw a pair of picks and was sacked three times as the Philly defense held the Giants' offense to just a first-quarter TD catch by Odell Beckham Jr., which was negated shortly after in the opening quarter with a 32-yard Riley Cooper left-sideline grab with 3:40 left in the first.
After picking off Manning once in the first quarter on a misplayed ball by tight end Larry Donnell, the Eagles were thirsty for another takeaway. They got just that.
On the Giant's first offensive series in the second, the two-time Super Bowl MVP floated a lofty screen pass to Dwayne Harris on the left sideline, and the pass from the offense's own redzone was easily jumped by corner Nolan Carroll and waltzed into the endzone for a pick-six.
Rashad Jennings fumbled a reception on New York's next drive and Philly recovered, but a deep Sam Bradford pass for Cooper was picked off on the subsequent series to hand possession back to the Giants.
The Eagles had another brief Bradford scare in the second with a self-recovered fumble at his own 18. By halftime, Philadelphia held a 17-7 lead with the help of a Caleb Sturgis 37-yarder.
Right out of the halfway interval, the Eagles offense pounced on another weakness deep for the New York secondary, hitting Cooper for another deep bomb, this one for 43 yards. However, wideout Jordan Matthews coughed up a fumble at the 31 of the Giants to end the possession again without a defining score.
Philly's next drive was much more precisely orchestrated, as Bradford and DeMarco Murray combined to march 85 yards downfield to make it 24-7 on a 12-yard Murray scamper. The former-Dallas Cowboy had 109 yards and a score on 22 carries Monday night, stiff-arming his way to the 12-yard score that broke the game open for the Eagles.
Bradford did not have his best outing, throwing picks on each of his next two drives, and with good field position too, but the Giants were unable to cash in on any of Philadelphia's four giveaways and get back into the game.
Sturgis knocked home a fourth-quarter kick to cement the 27-7 result by game's end. Bradford finished with a TD and three INTs on 24 of 38 passing for 280 yards, while his opponent Eli Manning managed just 189 yards, a score, and two picks.
Both teams are now 3-3 in an ever-so-tight race for the top of the East, but the Giants have had all momentum cut off, while for Philadelphia the situation is quite opposite.
The Eagles face the undefeated Carolina Panthers next week while New York hosts the Romo-less Cowboys.