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Giants (8-7) vs Eagles
(4-11)
Last week the Eagles, playing in their
last home game of the season, failed to come up with a victory
for head coach Andy Reid or for their fans. Their 27-20 loss to
the Redskins means that they have been able to beat only one division
team this season, the Giants.
A 33-14 loss in Baltimore to
the Ravens eliminated the Giants from being able to win the division
title. Their only hope of making the playoffs now is as a wildcard
team depending on having a win against the Eagles coupled with
losses by Dallas, Chicago and Minnesota.
Philadelphia
Eagles.
Andy Reid is likely coaching in his last game for the Eagles.
He's in his 14th season with the team and over that time has taken
them to the postseason 9 times, to the NFC Championship game 5
times and to the Super Bowl once. Reid has the most wins of any
coach in their history, but there has been no Super Bowl trophy
to show for those efforts. Last year was very disappointing for
the team with the only upside being that they won the last four
games to finish at 8-8. Reid said that wasn't good enough and
was anxious to build on that momentum going into this season.
They won the first three games out of four including one against
the Giants on September 30. Then they lost every game played in
October and November before beating Tampa Bay on Dec 9 and that's
been it. Of the total four games they've won, two were by two
points and two were by one.
Eagles
offense.
Michael Vick is back as the
starter for this game. Rookie Nick Foles took over after Vick
suffered a concussion in Week 10, but Foles broke his hand in
last Sunday's loss to Washington. Vick had his best game of the
season winning a game against the Giants where he had no turnovers.
In the first three games prior he had thrown 6 interceptions and
committed 3 fumbles. That was Vick's last victory and he currently
has 9 interceptions and 10 fumbles. This upcoming game could be
his last in an Eagle uniform.
The offensive line has not been particularity helpful for either
quarterback as they have been
sacked or under duress on almost 30 percent of their dropbacks
this season. That's the worst average in the league and not having
a running game, that included Pro-Bowler LeSean McCoy, hasn't
helped. McCoy had missed four games with a concussion and he returned
just last week. McCoy had 122 total yards against the Redskins
as Foles targeted his running back 11 times for 9 completions.
Wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, with 21 catches for 293 yards and
2 touchdowns over his past three games, and tight end Evan Moore,
have missed some practice this week.
Eagles defense.
They suffered more than just
a loss last week as concussions have resulted in their top two
rookie starters, tackle Fletcher Cox and linebacker Mychal Kendricks,
being ruled out for this game. Both had been playing well with
Kendricks starting in every game and Cox having started the last
nine. Cox, with 5.5 sacks, was tied for the team lead with Jason
Babin, who was released from the team in November. Left end Brandon
Graham has 4 sacks and Trent Cole brings pressure. Cornerback
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie has a team-high 3 interceptions and
overall this defense is not a big take-away outfit. They had one
interception last week, but it came after more than two months
and 245 passes by the opposing quarterbacks since the last one.
They have given up 28 passing touchdowns, which is the fifth-most
in the league.
Giants offense.
Eli
Manning threw for 309 yards
with two touchdowns and one interception in the last early season
game against the Eagles. At this point the defense he now faces
should be softer, but so is his offense. Manning can no longer
stretch the field with Hakeem Nicks who continues to deal with
a knee injury. Nicks was targeted only three times and had no
catches last week for the first time in his career. With Victor
Cruz drawing all the attention, tight end Martellus Bennett was
thrown to the most.
Ahmad Bradshaw and David Wilson ran the ball only a combined 12
times as the Giants abandoned the running game and Manning only
threw their way once. His offensive line hasn't been giving him
adequate protection and overall Manning completed only 14 of his
28 passes for 150 yards and he was sacked three times. Overall
the offense has converted just 6 out of their last 20 third down
attempts. It would be great if the Manning to Rueben Randle connection
could get somewhere this week. His one lone catch out of four
tossed his way went for 43 yards against the Ravens.
Giants defense.
They're up against a poor offensive
line, but running back LeSean McCoy can make plays happen on his
own. That also goes for Michael Vick who will have rested legs
and a strong desire to audition both his running and passing skills.
They will be able to run on the Giants (237 yards last week to
Baltimore) who lately have had trouble getting opposing offenses
off the field. As for passing defense, last year only 15 plays
went for 30+ yards, this year so far it's up to 27.
Is it that quarterbacks are shucking the ball so fast the pass
rush can't possibly get there or have they lost the physical ability
to bring any pressure? Is the secondary allowing obvious targets
or are they suffering because of the lack of a pass rush? Things
won't be easy, as starter Prince Amukamara and backup Jayron Hosley
are both listed as doubtful. One thing to hope for in this game
is Vick trying to do way too much, as that can go either way and
it is where he makes the most mistakes.
Overall
Are we all expecting way too much? You realize that if the Giants
win this game they will be a 9-7 team just as they were last year.
So if that doesn't get them into the playoffs you could say it
has more to do with the other division teams doing better than
the Giants doing worse. The Eagles have very little to play for,
their bags packed, waiting for a bus trip home so they can rest
their tired bodies and try to forget this season.
Even if the Eagles win, at this point people will look at it more
like a Giants nosedive than a super effort on their part. Against
a 4-11 traveling team playing their last game, plagued with injuries,
with a head coach and quarterback on the outs, the Giants should
win this game hands down. If not, would you really want to see
the defending Super Bowl Champions play the clown in a postseason
game?
NFC East
The Giants play in the early 1:00pm
Sunday game at MetLife Stadium. Later in the day the Washington
Redskins (9-6), riding a six-game win streak, will be going up
against the Dallas Cowboys (8-7) at 8:20pm. It will be the last
game of the regular season and will decide the winner of the NFC
East division. The Giants and Redskins are favored to win their
games.
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TeamGiants on Twitter.Notes.
Giants are on the verge of
becoming the seventh consecutive Super Bowl champion to fail to
win a playoff game the following season.
Giants offense has scored just 14
points in the last two games.
Eagles, last time prior to this
year that they didn't have any Pro Bowlers, was the last year
before Andy Reid was their head coach.
Eagles Reid has had nine playoff
losses to nine different teams, the Giants, St. Louis, Tampa Bay,
Carolina, New England, New Orleans, Arizona, Dallas and Green
Bay.
Eagles have lost 10 of their last
11 games.
Eagles have intercepted only three
passes in the last 13 games.
Eagles, including postseason, have won
eight of the last nine games against the Giants.
Next Game
Jan 5 or 6 - With a Giants with a win over Philadelphia and
losses by Dallas, Chicago and Minnesota.
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