Can Giants Snap Road Game Losing Streak vs. Eagles, and Other Week 18 Storylines

The 2022 NFL regular season is about to end this weekend. Still, for the New York Giants, this weekend's game at the Philadelphia Eagles is a good tuneup ahead of Big Blue's upcoming venture to the postseason since 2016.

The Giants haven't won at Philadelphia in a long while--Week 8 of the 2013 season, to be exact when they squeaked out a 15-7 victory on five field goals. Playing in Philadelphia, in fact, has been a nightmare for the Giants, who usually get embarrassed or embarrass themselves in some way when they set foot on a seemingly cursed ground where they're concerned.

This weekend's game, though, will be an interesting one. The Giants have zero at stake (besides the pride and motivation of finally besting one of their heated division rivals who handed them their worst loss of the 2022 season). Neither a win nor a loss will improve the Giants' postseason seeding.

On the other hand, the Eagles are playing for home-field advantage and the first-round bye that comes with being the No. 1 playoff seed. They would also win the NFC East regardless of what Dallas does this weekend against the Commanders with a victory.

The game, which is scheduled for 4:25 p.m., promises to be a good one. Giants-Eagles games usually are memorable in some way, shape, or form.

Let's hope that this year's memory is the Giants denying the Eagles the division title, the top seed, and home-field advantage.

Here are a few storylines ahead of the final regular-season game this year.

Start 'em or Sit 'em?

As already mentioned, the Giants have nothing to gain and nothing to lose if they sit their starters Sunday because the outcome of their game will not affect their seeding in the playoffs.

But head coach Brian Daboll, whose goal is to win every game and ensure the team is in the best position to win games, might feel differently about sitting his starters.

"(General manager) Joe (Schoen) and I will have some conversations, talk to the coaches. I don’t think we need to make that decision right now. So again, we’ll do whatever we think is best for our guys and our team come this week," he said.

What might be best for the team is to meet somewhere in the middle, specifically sit those players who are banged up or who have had a heavy workload in the second half of the season in favor of some of the other players who may or may not be needed during the playoffs.

Three players who have logged a lot of miles include defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, safety Julian Love, and running back Saquon Barkley--three very integral guys the Giants don't want to play without.

But again, what Daboll and Schoen have to weigh is if the risk outweighs the reward of beating the Eagles and stopping the NFC championship from running through Philadelphia.

"We’ll go out there and try to have a good week of practice, prepare like we normally do, and decide what we want to do relative to who’s playing, who’s not playing," he said Monday. "Whatever we think is best for our team, that’s what we’ll end up doing."

Health Status?

If Daboll is going to base any playing time decisions on player health, that begs the question of who might be ready to roll and who won't.

Currently, the Giants' injured include defensive lineman Leonard Williams (burner), outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari (ankle), and cornerback Adoree' Jackson (knee).

Chances are the Giants will hold all three out of Sunday's game. Still, it's also worth watching to see if Jackson, who returned to practice last week, might get a handful of snaps as a sort of tuneup to shake off the rust ahead of the postseason, where one would think he'd be active (not to mention very much needed).

Improvements?

Back in Week 14, the Eagles blew the doors off the Giants, delivering New York's worst loss of the season, a game decided by 26 points. The Giants, on that day, were no match for the Eagles, who looked every bit the powerhouse team that started the season.

But a lot has changed for the Giants since then. For one, they put an end to a 1-3-1 post-bye streak and have gone 2-1 in games since (and one might argue they should be 3-0 were it not for how they beat themselves with mistakes in their game against the Vikings).

The Giants have played some pretty good ball in that three-game stretch. Their primetime win against the Commanders was inspiring. They blew the doors off a hapless Colts team, the first time in quite a while that the Giants did not play down to a lesser opponent.

Quarterback Daniel Jones has been on fire, going 70 of 98 for 671 yards, three touchdowns, and just one interception over those last three games. He nearly brought the Giants to victory against the Vikings, leading them on an impressive game-tying drive and ensuing 2-point conversion that almost erased the mistakes made earlier in the game and should have sent the game to overtime were it not for the walk-off field goal.

The defense has also played better, logging 9.0 sacks, 23 quarterback hits, 14 tackles for a loss, and an interception over that three-game stretch.

The point of all this is to suggest that the Giants team has gotten better since being embarrassed by the Eagles (it's also helped that the Giants have gotten a little healthier since).

How much better--and if they've improved to the point where they can beat the Eagles--remains to be seen, but it's probably not a stretch to think that the Giants will be a lot more competitive this time around than they were in the first meeting.

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