A week earlier in a loss to Atlanta, two 80-yard touchdown drives did in the Eagles' defense and the group vowed to improve the next chance it had.
On Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, the defense again had its troubles in the fourth quarter as the Giants put together a pair of touchdown drives to come from behind in a 29-16 win.
What's going on with the defense? Why isn't it able to close with the game on the line?
"It's frustrating," said cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who was involved in one of the touchdowns, a 28-yard pass to wide receiver Victor Cruz, a play on which Asomugha and safety Jarrad Page were in perfect position to break up the pass -- and neither player did. "We're that close, but we're not finishing the task. It's something, collectively, we need to improve.
"I know we are all disappointed. We should be better. We will be better. We need to put in the time and work harder and finish."
The Eagles were ahead 16-14 when Cruz made his touchdown catch, his second of the afternoon. Asomugha missed a tackle on Cruz in the first quarter on the receiver's 74-yard catch and run that gave the Giants a 14-0 lead as the secondary once again gave up four touchdown passes.
On the second Cruz touchdown catch, Asomugha just didn't make a play that was right in front of him. Cruz ran an inside route and then turned to the outside and caught Manning's jump ball, wrestling the pass away from the defensive backs.
"We were there. It was right there and we didn't make the play," said Asomugha. "I have to be better there."
The entire defense has to be better, especially in the first and fourth quarters. The Eagles have permitted 28 points in the first quarter of three games and 29 points in the fourth quarter of those games.
In the second and third quarters, the Eagles have allowed a total of 20 points.
"We think we're working hard, but we have to work harder," said Page. "We have to detail our work and be more complete. You can't play anything less than 60 minutes and expect to win against good teams, and every team in the NFL is a good team."
