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The Giants might be able to keep their slim playoff hopes alive with a win Monday in Philadelphia, but simply winning in Philadelphia would be their most noteworthy feat this season.
Big Blue has not won at its house of horrors since 2013. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s 10 straight losses. The Eagles beat the Giants at home twice last season — in the odd Week 18 scenario where the Giants actually rested their starters because they were locked in to the No. 6 seed, and then again in the Divisional Round with a 38-7 bloodbath.
This has to end at some point — even if just by a sheer stroke of luck for the Giants — you would imagine. Maybe even when the rivals meet for the first time on Christmas Day?
“I mean, that’s a crazy stat,” left guard Justin Pugh said when told that the Giants haven’t won in Philadelphia since his rookie season. “Philly’s been really good. They’ve done a good job. You’ve got to give a hat off to them. Yeah, we’d love to beat them.”
It’s almost as crazy that the NFL schedule makers had divisional opponents face each other twice in the last three weeks of the season, but that’s a discussion for another day.
On one hand the Eagles are vulnerable because they’ve lost three straight games, they changed their defensive coordinator last week, and their offense looked as stale as ever in the most recent 20-17 setback against Seattle.
But you could also look at this as a “get right” game for the Eagles against a Giants offense that came crashing down to earth in New Orleans last Sunday with only two field goals thanks to a 2-for-16 conversion rate on third down in which New York needed 10.7 yards on average. Defensively the Giants blitzed 50 percent of the time yet had only one sack and forced no turnovers.
That last metric is the most important. The Giants were terrific at creating takeaways during their three-game winning streak — 12, to be exact — and they must get back to being ball hawks to have a chance at an upset in another game where the team’s margin for error will be close to zero.
The Giants rank sixth in turnover differential overall at +6, while the Eagles rank 26th at -6. The Eagles’ 21 turnovers are already their most in a season since 2020, and they’ve coughed the ball up five times in their last two games.
Still, Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale isn’t downplaying the personnel on the other side. He said the Eagles still feature an offense that makes you play “eleven-on-eleven football” and “defend every blade of grass” similar to San Francisco and Miami, and he called center Jason Kelce a first ballot Hall of Famer.
“It’s like playing (former Colts and Broncos quarterback) Peyton Manning and it’s not sexy so he doesn’t get that Peyton Manning type credit, but he’ll see something, whether it’s a stance, whether it’s a guy putting his mouthpiece in different,” Martindale said. “He’ll see something and completely flip a protection. So, that chess match is always tough. When people want to talk about their offense or anything else, first thing I’m going to say is: what’s their record? Alright, we know what their record is, so I’m not buying any of that.”
One development to watch is Dexter Lawrence, who is questionable with a hamstring injury since the All-Pro nose tackle only practiced Saturday in a limited fashion and has been on a pitch count of less than 50 percent of the snaps in the last two games. If he can’t go, that’s a loss huge since Lawrence is by far the Giants’ most disruptive player on defense.
Hamstring injuries have killed the Giants this season, but tight end Darren Waller was a full participant in practice all week and All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas is also past the ailment that cost him seven games.
The Eagles’ pass rush hasn’t been as dominant as last season — it ranks 14th in sacks — but it will still be a significant hurdle for Tommy DeVito to cross in order for the undrafted rookie to continue his feel-good story that, while didn’t include a win against a Saints, has now featured four straight games without a turnover.
“I heard it’s a pretty hostile environment,” DeVito said of Lincoln Financial Field. “I’m looking forward to it. I like to thrive in those environments.”
But it’s time for the Giants to put up or shut up, especially since ending their long losing skid in Philadelphia would provide another statement that even though this season will almost certainly not result in a playoff encore, this franchise is still heading in the right direction under second-year head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen.
“I don’t think that sits well in anybody’s stomach,” running back Saquon Barkley said. “I don’t think that sits well if you’ve been here for a long time, especially the guys that have been here the longest, (wide receiver Sterling Sterling), myself. We hate saying that we hate answering the questions, ‘How would it feel to win in Philly’ or to not beat Philly. We’re sick and tired of it. The only way we are going to change that is by going out there and winning a game.”
Giants Gameday
The Game: Giants (5-9) at Eagles (10-4), Lincoln Financial Field, Monday, 4:30 p.m. ET (FOX)
The Line: Philadelphia by 13.5
History: The Eagles lead the all-time series, 92-87-2, and have won four in a row. The Giants have not won in Philadelphia since 2013 (10 straight losses including last season in the NFC Divisional Round).
Key Matchups:
Giants LG Justin Pugh vs. Eagles DT Fletcher Cox: Pugh is coming off a rough performance in New Orleans. Philadelphia’s interior line will be a challenge. Cox has 16 QB hits, seven tackles-for-loss and five sacks.
Giants WR Wan’Dale Robinson vs. Eagles CB Bradley Roby: The Giants need a bounce-back game from the second-year wideout, who had a career-high 112 yards from scrimmage two weeks ago against Green Bay but only four catches for 25 yards in New Orleans.
Giants CB Adoree’ Jackson vs. Eagles WR A.J. Brown: Jackson is another veteran who struggled last week and might be fighting for a spot on the team next year. Brown has fallen off a bit since setting an NFL record with six straight 125+ yard games earlier in the season, but he’s still totaled 239 yards in the Eagles’ last three games.
Giants secondary vs. Eagles TE Dallas Goedert: The Giants have allowed the 11th-fewest yards (605) to tight ends this season. Goedert has had a modest output with 470 yards in 11 games, so this is an area where the Giants should have the upper hand.
Injury Report:
Giants: OUT: RT Evan Neal (ankle), DL Rakeem Nuñez-Roches (knee); QUESTIONABLE: DL Dexter Lawrence (hamstring), TE Lawrence Cager (groin), DL A’Shawn Robinson (back), RB Gary Brightwell (hamstring).
Eagles: OUT: CB Darius Slay (knee), CB Avonte Maddox (pectoral), LB Zach Cunningham (knee), G Landon Dickerson (thumb); QUESTIONABLE: LB Nicholas Morrow (abdomen).
Giant Facts: The Giants signed 17th-year veteran Mason Crosby on Friday because of ongoing injuries at kicker. He is set to become the fourth kicker to attempt a field goal for the team this season, which has never happened in Giants history. … This is the Giants’ first-ever Christmas Day game. They have played seven times on Christmas Eve including last season in Minnesota. … The Giants averaged 1.1 yards on first downs last week against the Saints, which was the worst first-down production by any team this season.
The Prediction: Eagles 27, Giants 16
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