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Giants (5-9) Philadelphia (10-4)
The Philadelphia Eagles were hoping to take
over the lead in the NFC East on Monday night, but a last minute comeback drive
from the Seattle Seahawks handed them a 20-17 loss.
The Giants thoughts of
continuing on their three game winning streak came to an end in New Orleans. Close
at the start, the Saints continued to score points in the second half, and the
Giants didn't, taking a 24-6 loss. Philadelphia
Eagles
The
Eagles won the NFC East Division last year, and continued winning to have a Super
Bowl matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs. In that game the Eagles held a ten point
lead at halftime, but found themselves down by eight in the fourth quarter. A
Jalen Hurts pass to DeVonta Smith for 45 yards got them to where Hurts was able
to run the ball in for a touchdown. Hurts also ran with the ball for their two-point
conversion, which tied the score. The Chiefs went on to use up most of the over
five minutes left to score a field goal, which gave them the lead, and their subsequent
38-35 Super Bowl win.
Aside from losing some key players, the Eagles had to
find replacements for both their offensive and defensive coordinators. Both moved
on to become head coaches, OC Shane Steichen to the Indianapolis Colts, and DC
Jonathan Gannon to the Arizona Cardinals. Last year the Eagles finished at 14-3,
and do have 10 wins now, but the road to those wins hasn't been as easy. This
season they've scored less points a game and given up more. Their total point
differential has dropped for 133 to just 18 this season. Philadelphia
Eagles Offense
As
mentioned, the team relies heavily on quarterback Jalen Hurts and what he can
accomplish for them on the field. Aside from his passing skills, last year Hurts
was the top quarterback with his 165 carries, and 13 rushing touchdowns. Even
though the team has lost the last 3 games, coming off an impressive 10-1 start,
Hurts gives it his all. Although he was a game time decision, traveling separately
from the team last week to Seattle due to an illness, he ran for 82 yards, his
most on the season, and had two rushing touchdowns.
His passing game took a
hit though, and Hurts was able to complete only 54.8 percent of his passes and
threw two interceptions. D’Andre Swift rushed for 74 yards on 18 carries, and
he is the lead running back with 896 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns. Swift,
Hurts, and running back Kenneth Gainwell have accounted for 116 of the teams total
123 rushing first downs.
Hurts was able to connect well with DeVonta Smith
last week, who caught all 5 passes for 50 yards, but he was off with A.J. Brown,
and tight end Dallas Goedert. They connected on less than half the passes that
came their way. Those top receivers and Swift have caught 16 of Hurts 19 passing
touchdowns, but none last week. In their current three game losing streak, the
Eagles have struggled to put points up on the board. Philadelphia
Eagles Defense
To
correct some defensive issues that seemed to be growing, and after losing two
straight games, head coach Nick Sirianni made a change. Defensive coordinator
Sean Desai was moved up to the booth area, and Matt Patricia became the new defensive
play caller on the sidelines. Patricia didn't have much time to implement many
adjustments before the game last week with the Seahawks, and though the defense
showed some improvements, they ended things by allowing backup quarterback Drew
Lock a game-winning touchdown drive in the final two minutes. That ended Seattle's
four game losing streak, and added another loss to Philadelphia's record.
In
that game the Eagles held Seattle to 100 rushing yards, an improvement on their
rushing defense which had slipped as opponents have now averaged more than 135
rushing yards in four of the last five games. Philadelphia's best edge rusher
is Haason Reddick, who leads the team with 11 sacks. Defensive end Josh Sweat
is next with 6.5 sacks. No one would expect the Eagles to come up with the 70
sacks they had last year, and they currently have 39 on the year. That aside,
they are one of the top teams with their quarterback pressures. Giants
Offense
Any offensive unit would like to
forget a game they lost scoring just 6 points on two field goals. Tommy DeVito
was coming off a game against the Green Bay Packers, where aside from completing
17-of-21 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown, with no sacks or interceptions,
he ran with the ball 10 times for 86 yards. DeVito was later named the NFC Offensive
Player of the Week for his efforts. They scored 24 points in that game, something
they rarely do, and then things came crashing down last week in New Orleans.
In
DeVito's past 5 games, he'd taken 6, 5, 9, 6, and 0 sacks, with the offensive
line fielding the same configuration of players. It looked like the unit had turned
a corner, holding Green Bay to zero sacks, but then they gave up 7 to the Saints.
Aside from that, Saquon Barkley had no free space to run. At the end of the first
half, Barkley had 6 carries for 8 yards, and DeVito was the lead rusher with 36
yards on 4 carries. The sad note is that DeVito ended up being the top rusher
in that game with those 36 yards, even though he didn't have another carry.
The
Giants have acknowledged that they took a step back, and need to see Barkley get
the ball in his hands more in upcoming games. Last week his 11 total touches were
his lowest of the year, and if the Eagles are indeed struggling of late with their
run defense, the Giants should attack that. Darius Slayton is the leading receiver
on the team, as he was last game with 4 receptions for 63 yards. Tight end Darren
Waller worked his way back last week after missing the previous five games with
a hamstring injury. Aside from Slayton and Waller, the Giants have a talented
group of receivers for DeVito to throw to if the offensive line can do its job. Giants
Defense
When the Giants were on their three
game winning streak, their opponents were held to 19, 7, and 22 points. They gave
up 24 last week in the loss to the Saints. The biggest difference in those games
was the lack of turnovers the defense came up with in the last one. While the
defense did hold the Saints to just one touchdown in the first two quarters, they
were ineffective after that. With their offense going nowhere, the Giants gave
up three straight scoring drives to the Saints in the second half. Turnovers provide
opportunities, and in the previous three games, the defense had forced 12 turnovers.
In
their earlier games the Eagles were averaging 28 points per game, and that's slipped
to an average 16 points a game during their three game losing streak. Jalen Hurts
was off with his passing during that time, completing 60 percent of his passes,
with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions, but has been effective running with the
ball for three touchdowns. Hurts is second on the team with 139 carries for 542
yards and 14 touchdowns, averaging 3.9 yards a carry. The Giants defense will
have to deal with that, as well as containing running back DeVonta Smith, who
has carried the ball 196 times for 896 yards and 4 touchdowns, averaging 4.6 yards
a carry. Overall
The Eagles have already clinched a playoff spot, but have been trending down in
their efforts to obtain the No. 1 overall seed for the playoffs. That would give
them a first round bye and home field advantage. Aside from playing the Rams,
the Giants will be facing off with the heavily favored Eagles twice in these last
three games. To be sure, a lot would have to fall into place for the Giants to
make it to the playoffs, but their fans sure would like to see them upset the
Eagles on Christmas day. NFC
East Games
Sunday at 1:00pm Commanders
(4-10) at Jets (5-9)
Sunday at 4:25pm Cowboys (10-4) at Dolphins (10-4)
Monday
at 4:30pm Giants (5-9) at Eagles (10-4)
The Eagles are the only NFC East team
favored to win in these games.
Check out.
Giants
On The Air. Listen to the Radio Broadcasts.
TeamGiants on Twitter.
Next Game
Jan
12/31 Rams at Giants
Jan 6 or 7 - TBD
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