EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Oct. 15 -- Philadelphia quarterback Rodney Peete had every reason to believe his third straight start would yield the Eagles' third triumph in a row -- it was counting to three that was the problem. 'You want to play, you feel all right, then your vision becomes blurred,' Peete said Sunday after the Eagles held on for a 17-14 triumph over the New York Giants in a game he left at halftime with a concussion. Each team used two quarterbacks as New York replaced ineffective starter Dave Brown and got an abysmal performance from Tommy Maddox, whose three second-half interceptions included one at midfield on the Giants' last chance to force overtime. After Philadelphia had rolled to a two-touchdown lead and the Giants settled for a field goal, Peete was in control with a 14-3 lead when he butted helmets with New York end Keith Hamilton. On Philadelphia's next series, Peete threw an incompletion and was sacked and left the game reporting wooziness. What he missed would have made his head spin as both teams self- destructed on offense to the tune of four interceptions, a lost fumble and a missed field goal, all in the second half. 'It wasn't the prettiest sight,' Eagles first-year head coach Ray Rhodes said after his team improved to 4-3 and dropped the Giants to 2- 5. 'Believe me, we just make things too hard, way too hard.' After the Eagles' 1-3 start -- including a collapse at Oakland that turned a 17-0 lead into a 48-17 loss -- Peete replaced Randall Cunningham, who has been billed as the team's more gifted but more problematic signal-caller in terms of club chemistry and coachability.
Peete had rallied the Eagles to their first victory under Rhodes during the second week of the season. Then, after the Oakland game, Peete engineered victories over New Orleans and Washington before this one. Cunningham went 3 of 9 for 26 yards with one interception. He claimed he had no thoughts of making a statement when he took over for Peete. 'I'm mature, I don't think on those terms,' Cunningham said. 'I had to give up those terms a few years ago. When you're 32, you begin to mature. Because I'm going to be in my prime pretty soon,' the 11-year veteran raised some eyebrows with that self-evaluation, 'I just want to be in the right situation, show the right kind of leadership I need to show. I just wanted to allow our team to win.' Carrying the Eagles offense Sunday, Rickey Watters ran for 122 yards and a touchdown on 30 rushes. He continued to refuse comment after games. Watters, coming off his career-best rushing game the previous week against Washington, overshadowed New York's Rodney Hampton, who fell 10 yards short of the 68 he needed to become the Giants' all-time leading rusher. Playing with a broken hand, Hampton dropped what looked like a surefire TD pass and for the third straight game, made a crucial fumble. Before that string, he had not dropped the ball in 495-straight chances. The Eagles' only second-half scoring was a 40-yard field goal by Gary Anderson. The Giants drew within 17-14 with 4:45 left in the game on a 41-yard fumble return by Omar Douglas and a 2-point conversion run by Hampton. Keith Elias appeared to block the punt by Tom Hutton but was ruled to have forced a fumble. The Giants had begun the second half with the ball and after Brown was sacked on back-to-back plays, Maddox made his first appearance as a Giant. His first drive ended with a sack and an incompletion and his next two each ended when he threw interceptions to William Thomas. The linebacker's 5- and 26-yard returns sandwiched a Cunningham interception snared by Phillippi Sparks to give the Giants possession near midfield. Then, after Thomas's second interception, Watters fumbled and Marcus Buckley recovered for New York as four straight series ended with turnovers. Philadelphia's defense totalled six sacks and three interceptions against both New York quarterbacks. 'It's Dave Brown's job,' Giants Coach Dan Reeves said. 'I just tried to do something to get a spark. Dave is still the starter.' Brown was 9 of 20 for 82 yards with no TDs or interceptions. Maddox completed 6 of 23 attempts for 49 yards with three interceptions. Peete in the first half was 4 of 7 for 47 yards with no TDs or interceptions. Philadelphia scored two touchdowns within the first five minutes of the second quarter and the Giants responded with two field goals, producing the Eagles' 14-6 halftime lead. After Watters' 8-yard scoring run, the Giants moved into Eagles territory but Kurt Gouveia forced Hampton to fumble and Michael Zordich recovered for a 58-yard TD and 14-0 lead at 4:56. 'The big play,' Reeves conceded. '(Hampton) had it in his right hand, that's his broken hand. He had been carrying in his left hand. For some reason, he had it in his right.' Philadelphia safety Greg Jackson, a former Giant, thinks he knows the reason. 'He's known for his stiff-arm,' Jackson said of Hampton's non- carrying hand. 'He can't stiff-arm now and that's why he's not breaking those big runs.' After Hampton dropped a third-down pass from the 3-yard line, the Giants had to settle for Brad Daluiso's 20-yard field goal, trimming the deficit to 14-3. New York again moved to the 4 but came away with only Daluiso's 21- yard kick on second down with six seconds left in the half.
