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Game 17 preview
Sunday Jan 8, 4:25 PM - Giants at Philadelphia

Giants (9-6-1) Philadelphia (13-3)
The Philadelphia Eagles fans where hoping to see their team lock up the No. 1 seed in the NFC with a win over the New Orleans Saints on New Year's day. That didn't happen when the Saints won 20-10.
The New York Giants played on the same day, and their fans saw the Giants have a resounding 38-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts. That locked the Giants into the No 6. seed in the playoffs.

Philadelphia Eagles
Last year the Eagles finished second in the NFC East to the Dallas Cowboys, who won the division. Both teams made it to the playoffs, and were one and done after their wild card games. This year Philadelphia leads the division, and the 12-4 Cowboys are in second place. At 13-3 the Eagles are tied with the Kansas City Chiefs, with both holding the best records of all the teams in the NFL.
The Cowboys had lost one game to the Eagles, but then beat them two weeks ago. When the Eagles took another loss, their hold on the No 1 seed was put at risk. Now they must win this next game with the Giants to avoid the possibility of being overtaken by the Cowboys for the NFC East Division title.

Philadelphia Eagles Offense
The big question is will Jalen Hurts play in this very important game for the Eagles. Hurts has been dealing with a right shoulder injury, and has missed the last two games. Hurts is listed as questionable, but the Eagles have lost the last two games playing without him. If Hurts can't play up to his full abilities, is it worth risking having him on the field compared to having backup Gardner Minshew play. We've seen the Eagles lose two games without Hurts, and a lot depends on who the Giants sit. The Eagles can't afford to see Hurts taking hits, and his mobility will be a major factor to consider.
Miles Sanders is the 5th ranked running back in the league, and this season has logged a career high 1,236 rush yards, and 11 rushing touchdowns. Sanders torched the Giants for 144 rushing yards, averaging 8.5 yards a carry, and had 2 touchdowns in the last game they played. Sanders gets an extra edge when Hurts is on the field, as opposing defenses have to check which one who will be carrying the ball, and he hasn't had that the past two weeks. The offense couldn't get things going last week, and top receiver A.J. Brown caught only 4 of 9 passes, but he still came up with 97 yards thanks to one catch he took 78 yards for a touchdown. UPDATE - Jalen Hurts will be the starter for this game..

Philadelphia Eagles Defense
They brought all they could last week in an effort to get that important 14th win of the season. They sacked New Orleans Saints quarterback Andy Dalton 6 times, intercepted him once, and sacked Taysom Hill once. The Saints scored only one touchdown and 20 total points, but it was enough to beat an Eagles offense that could only score 10 points working without quarterback Jalen Hurts. It may sound like a lot of sacks in one game, but this defense has recorded 6 or more sacks in each of the last five games. They have a total 68 sacks this season, more than twice as many as they had last year.
Their front four is responsible for 49 of them, and Haason Reddick has the most with 16. Javon Hargrave, Brandon Graham, and Josh Sweat each have 11. The Giants might have to measure how much they can substitute offensive line players up against this group without being overwhelmed. The secondary might be surprised to see how well the Giants receivers are playing, and maybe this will be a chance for Kenny Golladay to surprise everyone.

Giants Offense
Daniel Jones has started all 16 games for the Giants this season, passing for 3,205 yards, and has 708 rushing yards. He's taken the team to the No. 6 seed in the playoffs. The Giants are locked into that spot and Jones can do no more to advance their position. Head coach Brian Daboll has said he will do what's best for the team when asked about resting some of his starters on Sunday. There's a chance that Tyrod Taylor will start the game, and if not, it's very likely you will see him in for a major part of it.
Unlike the backups the Giants fielded last year, Taylor actually started 53 games in his career, 43 of them with the Buffalo Bills from 2015-2017. During that time he threw 51 touchdowns and 16 interceptions, and . Taylor also ran for 1,575 yards, and 14 touchdowns. Davis Webb may also get some playing time.
Saquon Barkley is next on the list of starters who might be sidelined. Barkley has totaled 1,312 rushing yards this season,moving him past his previous career high of 1,307 yards set during his rookie year.
Expect to see more of Matt Breida in this game than you have before. Breida came in last week in relief of Barkley, and had 9 carries for 59 yards. Aside from Darius Slayton, who got a second chance with the Giants this year, the rest of the wide receivers would likely be backups on other teams. Head coach Brian Daboll has brought out the best in them, and it will be interesting to see how the playing time is divided out.

Giants Defense
The Eagles will be coming at them in full force. They have a lot to play for in this game, and will hope to jump off to an early lead so they can coast the rest of the way, sitting their own starters. Leonard Williams and Azeez Ojulari were both active last week to help win the game that got the Giants into the playoffs, but with that settled, they will be out for this game. It was thought that top cornerback Adoree Jackson could be set to see action for the first time in weeks, but with the way things stand as they do now with the Giants having nothing on the line, he might not play. It could be a chance to see how his knee has recovered, but he's been listed as doubtful.
Safety Xavier McKinney was back last week after missing seven games due to his hand injury suffered during the bye week, and he recorded seven total tackles. The Giants could use his efforts on the field, and additional playing time in an inconsequential game might help him sharpen his skills for the following week. L
andon Collins was a good pick up for the Giants, and has shown that he still has it. In the last two games when he got good playing time, he was on the field nearly half the time against the Vikings, and picked up his first sack, and last week against the Colts, he intercepted a Nick Foles pass and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown. Collins will be eager for as much playing time as he can get.

Overall
A few weeks ago all four teams in the NFC East had a shot at moving on to the playoffs. Going into this last game of the regular season, three of them are already in, and the Washington Commanders are out. There will be a lot of scoreboard watching, as the NFL scheduled the teams to all play at the same time on Sunday. Coaches for the Cowboys and Eagles will be eager to see when or if they can rest some players as the games move along.
Washington, with nothing to play for, lines up against the Cowboys, who with a win and an Eagles loss, will take the division title. A Giants win or a loss against the Eagles means nothing to them, after securing the the 6th seed playoff spot last week. The Giants only concern will be on how to use their starters and backups, so they will be better prepared for next week.

NFC East Games
Sunday at 4:25pm Giants (9-6-1) at Eagles (13-3)
Sunday at 4:25pm Cowboys (12-4) at Commanders (7-8-1)
The Cowboys and Eagles are the NFC East teams favored to win in these games.
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Next Game
Jan 14/15 at TBD

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