Week 7 Preview: Demarcation-Line Game Between Eagles and Giants
PHILADELPHIA - Cowboys owner Jerry Jones called the NFC East “manna from heaven” earlier this week. Ron Rivera benched his young quarterback in Washington with the assumption there was an opportunity.
And the Philadelphia Eagles believe a dismal 1-4-1 start may not be able to be erased but compartmentalized if a fourth consecutive postseason berth can be earned through the NFL’s worst division.
Any push starts on Thursday night when Philly native Joe Judge returns with his 1-5 Saquon Barkley-less New York Giants to face the Eagles in front of the now requisite 6,000 or so fans at Lincoln Financial Field.
Philadelphia has dominated the Giants in recent seasons, winning seven straight games in the series and 11 of 12 overall, a nod to the dominance over Eli Manning.
Injuries remain an issue for Philadelphia with running back Miles Sanders (knee), tight end Zach Ertz (ankle), right tackle Jack Driscoll (ankle), defensive tackle Malik Jackson (quad), and safety K’Von Wallace (shoulder) added to the ever-expanding laundry list.
On a positive note veteran receiver, DeSean Jackson is expected to return after missing three games with a hamstring injury and right tackle Lane Johnson (ankle) might try to give it a go due to Driscoll’s injury. Meanwhile, there is at least a chance defensive starters Avonte Maddox (ankle) and Duke Riley (rib) could be back.
For the Giants, things started to change last season with Daniel Jones taking over at quarterback and the tide continued moving briskly in the offseason when Judge, a Bill Belichick disciple and graduate of Lansdale Catholic, a suburban Philadelphia private school, took over the program after New York lost out to Carolina in the Matt Rhule sweepstakes.
“My only rule is anybody who shows up that I either grew up with or have blood ties with, they have to wear blue,” Judge joked of his return. “I respect their love for the Eagles from being in the town. But hey, look man, you ain’t showing up cheering against my kids' Christmas. You better come out in some blue cheering for us.”
OFFENSIVE SCHEME: The Giants have been bad on the offensive side and amazingly consistent in their ineptitude, ranking No. 31 overall in total offense and 30th in both the running game and passing game.
Without Barkley, Jones has been the team’s leading rusher through six games. From a practical standpoint, New York’s default setting is 11 personnel (they use three receivers 61 percent of the time) and that will be bolstered at some point with the return of Sterling Shepard (turf toe) but that’s unlikely on a short week.
The outlier for NY is 13 personnel (three tight ends) which the Giants use more than other team in the NFL with the exception of Chicago.
The offensive coordinator is former Dallas head coach Jason Garrett so there is at least some familiarity for Jim Schwartz.
“There are some continuities,” said the Eagles defensive coordinator. “(Giants offensive line coach Marc) Colombo is their offensive line coach. He came from Dallas. So we can see some carryover to those things.
"We take every team independently of their past. But after we get done all of our breakdowns, then we can sort of DNA match it and say we have some carryover here and there's a certain percentage of carryover, obviously different personnel and things like that, but there is a certain percentage of carryover.”
DEFENSIVE SCHEME: At least the Eagles are getting used to 3-4 looks after Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
The Giants are another team that uses that attacking front and the defense has certainly been the identity so far, ranking 12th in the NFL and top-10 in run defense.
The Achilles’ heel has been significant, however, in that Patrick Graham’s unit hasn’t been able to get off the field on third downs, ranking No. 31 in a 32-team league.
STRENGTH: The Giants have a top-10 run defense and it starts up front with a talented group featuring nose tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, along with former first-round picks Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence.
Add instinctive inside linebacker Blake Martinez behind that and it’s going to be difficult for the Philadelphia running game, especially with no Sanders and the banged-up offensive line.
WEAK LINK: Daniel Jones’ ball security. The second-year signal-caller from Duke has at least one turnover in every game he’s played with the exception of a Week 16 game in his rookie season against Washington.
This season Jones has six interceptions and three fumbles and in 19 career games, he’s turned it over 32 times. The Eagles’ defense has to be buzzing around in this one understanding there will be opportunities.
UNDER THE RADAR: Giants embattled general manager Dave Gettleman was criticized for spending big and reuniting with cornerback James Bradberry in free agency but it’s worked out very well to date.
The lengthy outside option has been a top-10 level CB so far for the Giants and, in theory, can match up well with the suddenly surging Travis Fulgham.
MATCHUP TO WATCH: The Giants offensive tackles vs. the Eagles defensive ends. Cameron Fleming and first-round pick Andrew Thomas have struggled out of the gates so this could be an opportunity for the Eagles rotation at defensive end to make a difference.
The rotation is settling in nicely now that Vinny Curry is back from a hamstring issue to join Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, and the emerging Josh Sweat.
Thomas, meanwhile, didn’t start at left tackle for the first time this season in the Giants' victory against Washington on Sunday because he was late for a Saturday night meeting. Fellow rookie Matt Peart, a third-round pick, played well in what was a rotation by the second quarter.
Judge hinted that Peart will continue to split time with Thomas or perhaps Fleming.
“We'll go through practice this week and kind of see where everything shakes out right now," Judge said. "But I was pleased with the way both (Thomas) and Matt played, along with Cam.
"We have multiple guys who can play the positions. Matt's a guy that's worked on the right and the left. We've practiced Andrew both on the right and the left as it is anyway, and Cam gets reps on the left as well, just to make sure we're all in position if we have to get our numbers called.”
Curry praised the young players but the Eagles DL is clearly champing at the bit.
“I think they look good. For the Giants to have the way those guys playing really, really hard. It’s been a great matchup for us,” Curry said. “We can’t wait.”
OUTLOOK: Somewhere along the line, the NFC East has turned into the AFC South. The only thing missing on Thursday night is the Jacksonville Jaguars. The butt of the TNF football joke this week is "marquee" Northeastern teams with the Eagles and New York Giants combining for a 2-9-1 record coming into the game.
The worst part is both remain significant division title contenders with 60 minutes of football likely the demarcation line between fully off the rails and perhaps division favorite.
Jones has been a turnover machine since taking the reins in North Jersey and Carson Wentz has been one in 2020 with the Giants ranking 21st in the NFL with a minus-2 turnover ratio and the Eagles far worse than that at minus-7 (No. 30 overall).
Wentz seems to have turned the corner, however, and while the Philadelphia attrition might keep it a little too close for comfort, figure on the Philadelphia win.
“There is a ton of respect for Carson across the division, across the league,” Judge said. “This guy is a tough competitor. Look, sometimes, you know how it is in Philly. It’s a great town because people are very critical, are very hard on you. Sometimes that highlights some of the things that aren’t going as well.
“When you look from a different perspective and you see how you have to play the guy as an opponent, you understand all of the things that he really does well and what he really has as strengths. He’s really a very good player.”
Final Score:
JOHN MCMULLEN: Eagles 23, Giants 21 (2-3-1 on the season, 2-4 vs. the spread)
ED KRACZ: Eagles 27, Giants 20 (1-4-1 on the season, 2-4 vs. the spread)
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM and every Monday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SportsMap Radio. He’s also the host of Extending the Play on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
Get the latest Eagles news by joining the community. Click "Follow" at the top right of the EagleMaven page. Mobile users click the notification bell. And please follow @kracze on Twitter
