December of discontent
A victory against Giants could help settle the Eagles
PHILADELPHIA — For the first time in eight years the Eagles are winless in December, the month where they traditionally shift into playoff mode.
If the Eagles don’t end the three-game losing streak they tow into Lincoln Financial Field on Monday (4:30 p.m., FOX TV, WIP 94.1-FM), or at home on New Year’s Eve against the Arizona Cardinals, it would be the first time since 1997 that they’ve been unable to manage one stinking win in December.
“What’s at stake?” Eagles edge rusher Haason Reddick said. “Just our identity and who we are, which is huge. We’ve got three more regular season games before we try our playoff push. So, at this point now it’s more about who we are as a team? What are we going to do to respond to these losses? And who are we as the season ends and we get ready to go into the postseason? I think that’s pretty much what’s at stake.”
Almost everything that could go wrong has gone wrong in the last three games for the Eagles. Fresh off a 10-1 start, the Eagles sustained back-to-back drubbings by San Francisco and Dallas that made the football world collectively shake its head.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni tried to right the ship by holding an unheard-of late season practice in full pads before a road game with the Seattle Seahawks. Sirianni also snuck in a coordinator change as he took the defensive play calling from Sean Desai and handed it to veteran Matt Patricia.
That didn’t work as the Eagles crumbled in a last-minute loss to backup quarterback Drew Lock and the Seahawks, who they had mastered much of the rainy evening in Seattle.
In full panic mode now, the Eagles (10-4) are in danger of losing the No. 1 seed with the bye and the division pennant should they stumble against the Giants (5-9), who have little to play for other than pride.
The good news for the Eagles is they own the Giants, having beaten them in 10 straight games at the Linc and four straight games overall with Brian Daboll coaching Big Blue.
The Giants are playing decent football after a 2-8 start with Tommy DeVito, their third starting quarterback guiding them to wins in three of their last four games. The North Jersey folk hero has completed 64.4% of his throws with eight touchdowns, three interceptions and a 91.5 rating. Darius Slayton leads the Giants with 38 receptions for 512 yards to go with one TD and Saquon Barkley has rushed for 797 yards and three scores.
What the Giants do very well is create takeaways and protect the football. They’re plus-6 in turnover ratio and with 22 takeaways, just three takeaways from the league-leading 49ers and Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Eagles are minus-6 in turnover ratio with just 15 takeaways. Quarterback Jalen Hurts entered the weekend ranked among the league leaders with 17 giveaways.
Following the frustrating collapse versus the Seahawks, the Eagles privately held a players-only meeting where the captains spoke their hearts. At the end of the day the Eagles still have some control over their playoff path.
“We’re in playoff mode, we’re focused, we’re dialed in,” Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown said. “We’re working, most importantly. We’re not just sitting here talking about it. We’re working. We’re challenging each other. We’re holding each other accountable.”
The 49ers (11-3) entered the weekend as the only NFC team with a shot at clinching the No. 1 seed. That would have required the Lions to lose to the Vikings, which didn’t happen. (Obviously, they would also have needed to beat the Baltimore Ravens on Monday plus have the Eagles and Cowboys lose.)
The Eagles play two of their last three games at the Linc, where since the start of the 2022 season they have a 14-3 record with an 82.4 win percentage, including the playoffs, that ranks third in the league. The flip side is the Cowboys (.938, 15-1) and 49ers (.882, 15-2) own better win percentages at home in that time frame.
“Last year we played a lot of great ball, but I don’t think we played our best ball until we got into the postseason,” said Reddick, who leads the Eagles with 11 sacks.
“We shouldn’t be peaking right now. We would hope to be further along as a team than where we are right now. But, hey, man, that’s a part of this thing. It’s all about who we are, what type of tone we’re trying to set going into this postseason and what do we want to look like identity-wise going into the postseason.”
Sirianni has his fingers crossed the losing skein will end Monday.
“I think we’ve had a really good week of practice, focused on what we can control, what we need to do better,” Sirianni said. “Good meetings, good walkthroughs, good practice. Guys are in a good spot, and we want to obviously get out of this skid we’re in, so what a great opportunity.
“With football, you get a great opportunity each week. Sometimes with football you wish it would come faster. We’re all ready to get back at it, ready to play, ready to go at it again against a good opponent. I just think the guys are hungry to get out there and coaches are ready to get out there and show what we’re capable of and what we can be as a football team.”