PREVIEW: Can Short-Handed Eagles Win NFC East?
PHILADELPHIA – Both teams will be slightly different on Sunday from when they last played just three weeks ago.
The New York Giants are playing rookie Daniel Jones at quarterback; not Eli Manning. Their secondary is inexperienced after jettisoning Janoris Jenkins.
The Eagles will be without tight end Zach Ertz, who was ruled out on Friday with rib and back injuries, and might be without Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson and cornerback Jalen Mills, too, with both listed as questionable.
“It’s the same team more or less,” said Giants coach Pat Shurmur about the Eagles during a conference call earlier in the week. “Schematically the same. They’re going to have wrinkles, I’m sure, just as we’ll attempt to have wrinkles. I think we’re probably more different.
"We’re starting a different quarterback. We’re even more different in the secondary than we were in that game. From an Eagles perspective, they’re still an outstanding team.”
The Eagles’ record is just 8-7 but have climbed out from a 5-7 hole thanks in large part to quarterback Carson Wentz, who has had the best three-game stretch of his career, as well as a coaching staff that has adjusted to the injuries that have decimated them.
Personnel-wise, they are far from what they thought they would due to injuries that ended the season for household names such as DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor (not officially on Injured Reserve, but will miss his fourth straight game with a knee injury), Corey Clement, and Darren Sproles.
The Eagles will have three practice squad receivers lining up with everything on the line: Greg Ward, Rob Davis, and Deontay Burnett. Ward was elevated on Nov. 23, Davis came up two weeks ago, Burnett just this week.
Their tight ends will be Dallas Goedert, who is in his second season, Josh Perkins, who was called up from the practice squad in Week 13, and Richard Rodgers, who was signed off the street earlier in the week.
The Eagles should get a boost from the return of running back Jordan Howard, but he hasn’t played in six weeks and, according to head coach Doug Pederson won’t have “a full complement of plays.”
So that leaves Miles Sanders and Boston Scott. Sanders has played his way into serious Offensive Rookie of the Year consideration, after back-to-back performances where he put up 172 and 156 total yards, respectively in the last two games.
Scott posted career-highs in rushing (59 yards) and receiving (69) in the previous meeting won in overtime 23-17 by the Eagles, who needed to overcome a 17-3 deficit at halftime to notch the first victory in what has become a three-game winning streak.
One major concern for the Eagles – other than the absence of Ertz, who is leading the team in catches (88), yards (916) and is second in touchdowns with six – is the emotional win they racked up last week against the Dallas Cowboys, who could’ve won the division by beating Philly on its home field.
“That’s a real thing,” said Eagles head coach Doug Pederson. “We poured a lot into that win on Sunday, and that's the thing that I think coming into the next week, is having that mental and emotional letdown.
“This to me is a bigger game obviously than last week. I know our guys are going to be ready. They've prepared this week that way. But for me as the coach, just keep reminding them the importance of this week and the importance of this game and staying focused and all that.”
The Giants have nothing to play for on Sunday.
At 4-11, their bags are packed for another offseason without a playoff spot. They have played only a single postseason game since winning the Super Bowl in 2011 with a 9-7 regular-season record.
Their quarterback is turnover-prone, owning the second-highest number of them despite not playing in five games, but Jones is coming off a five-touchdown performance last week in an overtime win against the Washington Redskins.
New York running back Saquon Barkley looks like he is fully healthy and has 422 total yards in the Giants’ two-game winning streak.
The Eagles might be in good shape, even with the season-long drain on offensive firepower, if the defense could be counted on when they hit the road. Alas, they have given up an average of 29 points per game in seven road dates.
Maybe a crowd that should be made of thousands upon thousands of Eagles fans will help. The Eagles play better in front of their home crowd, giving up just 16.75 points in eight home games this year.
Of course, Eagles fans turned out in droves in South Florida, but the Miami Dolphins hung 37 on the defense and stung the Eagles with a 37-31 win.
Had the Eagles found a way to beat the lowly Dolphins, nothing about Sunday would matter. The Eagles would already be the NFC East champs and could sit back and await a first-round playoff visit from the loser of the San Francisco 49ers-Seattle Seahawks Sunday night game.
They didn’t, and now everything is on the line, and the Eagles will have to find a way to win without their top offensive threat.
PREDICTION: Eagles 31, Giants 27
COMMENT: This game means too much for the Eagles to stumble now. It wouldn’t surprise me it there is an upset coming, and New York finds a way to end its six-game losing streak against Philly, but the Eagles know too well what’s at stake and I believe they will find a way to win a close game.
