If an offensive lineman is doing his...

If an offensive lineman is doing his job, his name will almost never be mentioned. So, Winston Justice being a household name around Philadelphia isn’t a good thing.

Justice, a second-round pick out of USC in 2006, made his first NFL start Sunday, replacing injured starting left tackle William Thomas for the Eagles in an NFC East showdown against the New York Giants.

His performance was, well, historic. The player he was assigned to block, defensive end Osi Umenyiora, made a franchise-record six sacks in the 16-3 victory, and the Giants tied an NFL team record with 12.

Afterward, Justice and Eagles Coach Andy Reid said they were to blame for the loss. Giants defensive end Michael Strahan said that Philadelphia put Justice in a bad spot and did little to help him when he got in trouble.

“That poor kid they had over there, why didn’t they help him?” Strahan said. “I felt, in an odd way, you could ruin the guy. It’s his first start and that’s what he gets? It’s not a good thing.”

Most sacks

On Tuesday, to the surprise of no one, Umenyiora was named NFC defensive player of the week. A look at where his performance, and that of the Giants, ranks in NFL history:

*--* MOST SACKS, PLAYER, GAME (SINCE 1982) No Player, Team Opponent Date 7.0 Derrick Seattle Nov. 11, 1990 Thomas, Kansas City 6.0 Fred Dean, New Orleans Nov. 13, 1983 San Francisco 6.0 Derrick Oakland Sept. 6, 1998 Thomas, Kansas City 6.0 Osi Philadelphia Sept. 30, 2007 Umenyiora, N.Y. Giants 5.5 William Gay, Tampa Bay Sept. 4, 1983 Detroit *--*

*--* MOST SACKS, TEAM, GAME No Team Opponent Date 12 Dallas Pittsburgh Nov. 20, 1966 12 St. Louis Baltimore Oct. 26, 1980 12 Chicago Detroit Dec. 16, 1984 12 Dallas Houston Sept. 29, 1985 12 New York Giants Philadelphia Sept. 30, 2007 *--*

Source: NFL

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-- Sam Farmer