New York Giants Report Card vs. Philadelphia Eagles: Passing Grades Despite a Loss

If the oddsmakers were to be believed, the New York Giants were supposed to suffer a beating at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles that was worse than their Week 14 48-22 thrashing.

Then again, the Giants weren't supposed to be the team with anything to play for in the regular season finale.

But in a bizarre type of twist, the Eagles needed the game more than the Giants, with the NFC East title and the No. 1 playoff seed (with the bye week) on the line.

While the Eagles took care of business, the Giants, who sat most of their key starters in this one, ended up playing their division rivals close enough in a 22-16 game that earned New york passing grades this week.

Offense: C+

Davis Webb’s NFL debut as a starter went as well as it could, considering he was behind an offensive line that allowed three sacks and nine hits, most of those coming early on, and considering that he couldn’t have had all that much time to build up chemistry with some of his receiving targets.

Still, Webb finished with decent numbers (23 of 40, 168 yards, one touchdown), and in true Daniel Jones-like fashion, his 14-yard touchdown run saw him bully Eagles defender Reed Blankenship.

The Giants' running game finished with 129 yards on 21 carries, a 6.1 yards per carry average, which isn’t too shabby considering Saquon Barkley was inactive. Tight end Lawrence Cager, who had been banished to the inactive list of late, led the receivers with eight catches (out of 10 targets) for 69 yards, while Kenny Golladay (remember him?) finally caught his first touchdown as a Giant.

Defense: A

There was no Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams, Azeez Ojulari, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Julian Love, or Fabian Moreau this week. Still, you wouldn’t have realized it given how surprisingly well the defense played.

The Giants kept the game plan a bit simpler on defense by not getting after quarterback Jalen Hurts. But where they stepped up was in situational football. New York held the Eagles to 1-of-5 in the red zone, 5-of-14(35.7 percent) in third-down conversions, and 1-of-4 (25 percent) in goal-to-go efficiency. That’s not too shabby against the No. 1 seeded offense in the NFC playoff tournament.

Special Teams: C

The Giants special teams delivered a mixed bag this week. We’ll give the Giants credit for creativity for that fake field goal attempt, but the execution was awful, resulting in a loss of 11 yards. Graham Gano’s two onside kicks, the first to start the second half and the second toward the end of the game, didn’t go the necessary ten yards, making it too easy for the Eagles to recover.

Jamie Gillan’s six punts resulted in a 39-yard net, with no touchbacks or balls placed inside the 20. Landon Collins was called for a holding penalty on a punt coverage. Richie James had one fair catch as the Eagles only punted twice, the other ball being downed.

Gary Brightwell has gotten a little better at kickoff returns, averaging 32 yards in two returns this week. Gano nailed a 24-yard chip shot field goal. In short, not enough plays were made by this unit.

Coaching: A

Brian Daboll decided to rest most of his starters, allowing them to catch their breath and heal from the in-season bumps and bruises. But his faith in the backups, combined with the preparation he and the coaching did to put those players in a position to succeed, stands out.

The backups stood toe-to-toe with the same Eagles team that steamrolled the Giants in Week 14, and if you don't think that instilled some confidence in an already confident team that's getting ready for its first playoff berth since 2016, well, think again.

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