Down and out: Victor Cruz done for season as Eagles dismantle Giants, 27-0

New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz holds his knee after going down while chasing a pass against the Philadelphia Eagles during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

It was the last thing Eli Manning, Tom Coughlin and the rest of the New York Giants (3-3) wanted to see: Wide receiver Victor Cruz being carted off the field in tears, his season done.

To add insult to (season-ending) injury, it happened in a 27-0 loss that was dominated from start to finish by the Giants' archrivals, the Philadelphia Eagles.

"Huge loss," Coughlin said of Cruz tearing the patellar tendon of his right knee. "It wasn't a good situation, a grim scene.

Already down 20-0, the Giants' coach elected to go for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the Eagles' 3-yard-line. Manning threw him the ball in the corner of the end zone, but as Cruz went up for the ball, his right leg twisted badly.

Cruz caught two passes for 16 yards before the injury.

The ball glanced off his fingers and fell incomplete, and even as he fell to the ground, the receiver clutched for his knee in agony.

It has been a patchy time for Cruz, a 2012 Pro Bowler who signed a $46 million contract extension during the summer of 2013. He began last season with various minor injuries and never really seemed to get untracked, making only four touchdown receptions, and none after Week 4. He hadn't gotten to do his traditional salsa dance in the end zone again until Week 3 of this season on Sept. 21 in a 30-17 win over the Houston Texans.

On Monday afternoon, Coughlin announced that Cruz will need surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon in his right knee. He did not know when the surgery would be performed or the length of the rehabilitation.

Wearing all-black uniforms for the first time in franchise history, the Eagles (5-1) stayed tied with Dallas (5-1) for the lead in the NFC East. They hadn't shut out an opponent since a 24-0 win over the Giants on Dec. 1, 1996, at old Veterans Stadium.

The defeat deflated the Giants, who had a three-game winning streak going into Sunday's game. Now they are back to .500 and without one of their best offensive weapons.

Nick Foles threw two touchdown passes and LeSean McCoy had a season-high 149 yards rushing. Foles had 248 yards passing, Darren Sproles ran for a score and the offense had a rare strong start.

The defense harassed and pressured Eli Manning often, sacking him six times and preventing New York's upstart offense from getting on track. The Giants had won three in a row, scoring more than 30 points in each victory.

"It's a good reminder that you just can't show up on the field and have things go well for you automatically," Manning said. "We got outplayed, outperformed."

The Eagles entered with 11 offensive touchdowns and seven from their defense and special teams. But Foles and Co. didn't need much help in this one.

Foles tossed a 15-yard scoring pass to Zach Ertz for Philadelphia's first offensive TD in the first quarter this season. Ertz made a diving catch, dragging his feet to stay in bounds.

Foles hit a wide-open James Casey for a 26-yard TD pass to make it 17-0 in the second quarter. Sproles had a 15-yard TD run to put the Eagles ahead 27-0. He left the game with a left knee injury and didn't return.

New York had 10 penalties, including a holding call on Will Beatty that nullified a 15-yard TD pass to Larry Donnell on the drive that ended with Cruz being injured.

"Penalties always hurt you, take away field position and kill your momentum," rookie running back Andre Williams said. "They hurt us a lot.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.