A.J. Brown of the Eagles scores a TD on a pass from Jalen Hurts as the Philadelphia Eagles come to East Rutherford, NJ to face their division rivals, the New York Giants on December 11, 2022. — Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

Philadelphia Eagles Dominating New York Giants at the Half, 24-7

Defensive, special teams breakdowns allow Eagles to take commanding lead.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Dec 11, 2022 2:31 PM EST

In this story:

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The Philadelphia Eagles have a 24-7 halftime lead over the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium.

After a promising drive for the Giants ended thanks to two sacks allowed by offensive tackles Andrew Thomas (Josh Sweat) and Evan Neal (Hasson Reddick), the Eagles strung together a 14-play, 84-yard scoring drive that ate up 8:05 off the clock.

The Philadelphia opening drive saw the Eagles convert three third-downs (including one via a Giants penalty called against cornerback Fabian Moreau for illegal hands to the face), cumulated in a 3-yard touchdown run by Miles Sanders for the 7-0 lead.

Philadelphia continued their first-half rout of the Giants by going for it on 4th-and-7 from the Giants' 41-yard line. Jalen Hurts connected with DaVonta Smith on an all-too-easy 41-yard touchdown pass to cap the 12-play, 91-yard drive and give the Eagles a 14-0 lead over the Giants.

The Eagles continued to roll over the Giants, this time benefitting from a short field due to Giants punter Jamie Gillan's illegal kick in which he dropped the ball to the ground on a punt and then tried to kick it.

Following the penalty, which was 10 yards and loss of downs, the Eagles took one play for Hurt to find receiver A.J. Brown for a 33-yard touchdown to make it a 21-0 game.

The Giants finally got on the board with 2:57 left in the first half. The sequence started with Gillan atoning for his earlier mistake and pinning the Eagles at their own 8. After the Eagles failed to advance thanks to a sack by Azeez Ojulari of Hurts on third down,

Elerson Smith blocked Arryn Siposs's punt. Siposs then tried to run the loose ball for the first down but came up one yard short, giving the Giants their best starting field position at the Eagles' 15.

Three plays later, Daniel Jones connected with Isaiah Hodgins for a 2-yard touchdown pass to make it a 21-7 game.

Not to be outdone, Boston Scott, who has historically been a thorn in the Giants' side, returned the ensuing kickoff 66 yards to set the Eagles up with a 1st-and-10 at the Giants 35-yard line. However, this time the Giants held the Eagles to a 29-yard field goal by kicker Jake Elliott to make it a 24-7 score at the half.

Giants running back Saquon Barkley, active for this game, has been rotating in on every second series. He leads the Giants with 20 rushing yards on six carries and is the team's leading receiver at the half, with two receptions for 20 yards.

Quarterback Daniel Jones went nine of 13 for 61 yards and one touchdown in the first half.

The most important stats to note is that the Eagles have 217 yards of offense to the Giants' 93 and have converted four of seven third-down attempts (57 percent), while the Giants have only converted one of six third-down plays.