The New York Giants (4-11) host the Philadelphia Eagles (8-7) at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, in a game that will help decide this year’s NFC East champion.
Here are six things to know.
Eagles will be NFC East champs with a win
Philadelphia, by virtue of their victory over the Dallas Cowboys last week, are in the driver’s seat in the NFC East. They will clinch the division with a victory over the Giants or a Dallas loss or tie.
A victory will thrust the Eagles into the NFC Playoffs as the fourth seed and will host a wild card team — either Minnesota, San Francisco or Seattle — on Wildcard Weekend. It will be their third consecutive season with a postseason berth after qualifying just once in the previous six seasons.
The series
This week’s game will be the 171st regular-season meeting between the two teams. A win on Sunday would draw the Giants’ all-time record against the Eagles to 84-84-2. The Eagles have won 10 of the last 11 meetings. A victory would also improve the Giants’ home record vs. Philadelphia to 47-38-1. The teams have met four times in the postseason, each winning twice.
The teams last met in Week 14 on December 9, 2019, when the Eagles won in overtime, 23-17, at Lincoln Financial Field on Monday Night Football. The Giants had a 17-3 halftime lead that they could not protect or build upon. Philly scored the game’s final 20 points, culminating with two two-yard passing plays from Carson Wentz to Zach Ertz for touchdowns — one with 1:56 remaining to tie the game and the second in overtime.
The teams last met in MetLife Stadium on October 11, 2018, which was a 34-13 Eagles victory.
The Giants could be in for a bloodletting
Win or lose, the Giants could be poised for another restructuring. Ownership thought the team would turn the corner this season and it did not happen. This means the Giants will have six losing seasons over the past seven and with little growth being displayed throughout the year, the club may not see a path forward with general manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Pat Shurmur.
However, a convincing win over the Eagles could change their minds. Doubtful, but you never know. Ownership may give Gettleman one more season and force Shurmur into making some changes to his style and his staff. Also a long shot. The consensus is they are seeking to get out in front of the NFL change curve and become leaders again rather than followers.
The flex is in
The NFL has “flexed” this game from it’s original 1:00 p.m. kickoff to 4:25 p.m. on FOX. They reserve the right to change the time of games accordingly this time of year and chose to move five games that have playoff implications to the late slate from the early slate.
For Giants fans, this is nothing more than a nuisance, especially for those attending in person. Those who had made plans for an early kickoff will now have to restructure their day. This could result in many Giant fans selling their tickets on the secondary ticket markets, making way for more Eagle fans to desecrate MetLife Stadium.
Thom Brennaman and Chris Speilman will once again draw the assignment for FOX with Shannon Spake on the sideline.
The Eagles are grounded
Philadelphia has a ton of injuries: WR Nelson Agholor (knee), TE Zach Ertz (ribs), T Lane Johnson (ankle), WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside (foot), DE Derek Barnett (ankle), G Brandon Brooks (calf), DT Fletcher Cox (triceps), RB Jordan Howard (shoulder) and CB Jalen Mills (ankle) are all on the injury report.
Add in the recent injuries to WR Alshon Jeffrey (foot), who is out for the year, and DeSean Jackson (abdomen), and the Eagles’ firepower has been severely reduced.
Philly skated past Dallas last week and are on a three-game winning streak, but the Giants could be playing better than both of those teams at the moment, so strap yourself in.
The Giants are hot
The Giants are also on a streak of their own. They’ve won two straight and aim for their third consecutive victory on Sunday, which is something they haven’t been able to do since 2016.
Quarterback Daniel Jones is back under center and exploded last week against Washington with 352 passing yards and five touchdowns with no INTs for a 132.1 rating. He is the first rookie with 300+ passing yards, 5+ TD passes and 0 INTs in single game in NFL history.
Jones joined Pro Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton (1961) and Deshaun Watson (2017) as the only rookies with three or more games of 4+ TD passes. Jones also has 2+ TDs with 0 INTs in three of his past four starts.
Running back Saquon Barkley had career-high 279 scrimmage yards (career-high 189 rushing 90 receiving) and two TDs (one rush, one receiving) in Week 16 at Washington, the most scrimmage yards in single game in Giants history.
Barkley also became the fifth player since 1970 with 275+ scrimmage yards and have both rushing and a receiving TD in a single game.
