NOW OR NEVER
Eagles, Giants both must win to save their season
The Giants are in the midst of what they hope is a historic turnaround, but their recent surge is only a mirage until they start beating NFC East teams.
Sunday’s matinee with the Eagles is pivotal. Despite a season that sunk to its nadir after eight games, New York (3-7) suddenly can tie Philadelphia (4-6) for third place in the division with a victory.
The Giants have not won at Lincoln Financial Field since 2013. They’ve lost four straight times on the Eagles’ home turf and eight of nine games overall in the rivalry. And little more than six weeks ago, Philadelphia bludgeoned this team by three touchdowns at MetLife Stadium.
“Obviously we’re playing better football right now,” quarterback Eli Manning said. “We’re finishing drives … we’re running the ball better than we did, so I feel like we’re playing better football, but we got to continue doing that. They’re a good team, they’re a good defense, they got a good front four and they’re a little banged up in the secondary, but they’ll have a good plan and we just got to go execute.”
The Giants have given themselves fresh life with consecutive wins against San Francisco and Tampa Bay, but they still have a mountain to climb. They are 2.5 games behind Minnesota for the second wild card spot. They will play co-division leaders Washington and Dallas each once more.
Along with self-reflection during their bye week, the Giants have since become one of the healthiest teams in the NFL. Their only injury is to defensive end Kerry Wynn, who will miss Sunday’s game with a concussion. No other player has even been listed on the game status report in three weeks.
That has translated to more efficient offense and more opportunistic defense than in the first half of the season.
“We found a way to have two good team victories the last two weeks, so we’re doing some things as a team better,” head coach Pat Shurmur said. “We have some new faces in there certainly, so yeah we are different. (The Eagles are) different. That’s why this is fun. Even though you play a team twice a year, if you play them early and you play them late, they can be two different scenarios really. I’m looking forward to it.”
Over the last two games, the Giants are finishing drives at a significantly improved rate. They converted 6-of-8 red zone attempts against the 49ers and Bucs after entering their bye week with a 40 percent success rate inside their opponents’ 20yard
line, which ranked 31st in the NFL.
With critics calling for his time as franchise quarterback to end, Manning has responded with five touchdowns and zero turnovers in that span. His 12.8 yards per attempt last week were his highest since a 2009 game against Oakland.
The Giants now draw an Eagles secondary that was decimated by Drew Brees and the Saints last Sunday and could be without their top-five cornerbacks this Sunday because of various injuries.
“The strength of their defense is still in place, the front, and they’ve done a good job of changing up what they do in the secondary,” Shurmur said. “If you watch each game since we’ve played them, they played in the backend differently. Maybe that’s to compensate
for some of the injuries, but they’ve done more coverage-wise this year than they have in past years.”
The ideal counter for the Giants against Fletcher Cox and the Eagles’ stout defensive front is establishing the run early and playing up-tempo.
Philadelphia’s defense allows the 12th-fewest rushing yards per game (101.4). Running back Saquon Barkley is coming off a career-high 142 rushing yards with three total touchdowns (one receiving) against the Bucs. He also had 130 yards on a career-high 10 yards per carry in the first matchup with the Eagles.
“We’ve been able to establish the run game early and often, and that’s what we weren’t able to do early in the season whether it’s getting behind the sticks, penalties, getting down on the points,” Barkley said. “That’s when you know we have to throw the ball a little bit more. I would say that’s the biggest difference.”
Defensively, the Giants allowed a season-high 510 total yards to Tampa Bay but also forced a season-high four turnovers. They have six takeaways in their last two games — one fewer than in the first eight games of the season combined.
That is a favorable trend entering a second matchup against Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, who had career lows with three interceptions against the Saints and hasn’t played at the same level as last season prior to ACL surgery.
“We’re finally getting turnovers in a way that you need to get them in order to win games,” Shurmur said. “We did give up some big plays at critical moments that we can’t have that happen, but we still need to do what we have to do to keep them out of the end zone. We need all three phases to play well — not just the defense.”