Birds look to avoid letdown in showdown at the Meadowlands
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. >> The Eagles need a win, not a miracle, when they take on the New York Giants Sunday at MetLife Stadium (4:25 p.m., Fox29, WIP 94.1-FM).
The Eagles (8-7) claim the NFC East pennant with a victory over the Giants or a Dallas Cowboys loss to the Washington Redskins Sunday in Texas. Both games have late afternoon starts.
An Eagles setback and a Cowboys victory gives Dallas the division title and the fourth seed in the NFC playoffs. Even a Philly or Cowboys tie gets the Eagles in.
A victory is a lot easier said than done for an Eagles team at least partly drained by playing must-win games the last month. None were bigger than the 17-9 decision over the Cowboys last weekend. Typically anything goes in this series stuck on strange and often spectacular endings.
“We poured a lot into that win on Sunday,” Doug Pederson said. “And that’s the thing that I think coming into the next week, is having that mental and emotional letdown. This, to me, is a bigger game than last week. I know our guys are going to be ready. They’ve prepared this week that way. But for me as the coach, I just keep reminding them the importance of this week and the importance of this game and staying focused and all that.”
The Giants (4-11) have nothing to lose. They’ve already blown a shot at claiming the second overall pick in the draft, which they could have used on Chase Young, the generational pass rusher from Ohio State.
The fate of head coach Pat Shurmur and general manager Dave Gettleman is unknown although they’ve secured the Giants’ quarterback of the future in Daniel Jones, who threw for 352 yards and five touchdowns to lift the club to a 41-35 overtime triumph over the Redskins last weekend.
With Eli Manning at quarterback, the Giants blew a 17-3 lead over the Eagles in their previous meeting.
Carson Wentz, who has completed 70.7 percent of his attempts with six TDs, zero interceptions and just two turnovers in the Eagles’ threegame win streak, finished a dramatic comeback with a TD pass to Zach Ertz in overtime. Ertz will sit out this game with back and rib injuries.
Summary: This is a dangerous game for the Eagles because it’s tough to keep the energy level high while constantly playing with your collective backs against the wall, as they have done lately. And also because the Giants have nothing to lose. The Eagles need to get off to a solid start. Giants fans supposedly have dumped their tickets. The Eagles don’t want to risk getting booed by their own fans at MetLife Stadium.
The pick: Make it Eagles 23, Giants 20.
“Regardless of who’s out there, you’ve seen the last few weeks; Dallas Goedert has stepped up, Josh Perkins has stepped up,” Wentz said. “The guys who are ready to go will be ready to go. The next man up has been our mentality all year. Whatever it looks like, we’re confident whoever we have out there.”
It could help the Eagles to get Jordan Howard back, the veteran running back having missed the last six games with a neck stinger. He still leads the club with seven TDs.
But the running back production with rookie Miles Sanders and Boston Scott is better than it was when Howard was healthy. Sanders has averaged 132.3 yards and scored two TDs in the three-game streak. Scott has 19 receptions on 19 targets in the last four games, tied for first among backs in that time.
Besides playing the mobile Jones for the first time, the Eagles have to defend Saquon Barkley, who amassed 279 yards from scrimmage and two TDs last week for the Giants.
The Eagles don’t play defense well on the road. They’re surrendering 29.0 points away from the Linc and 16.8 points at it.
They have committed 44 penalties in eight home games, an average of 5.5 per game. On the road they’ve already been flagged 49 times, an average of 7.0 per game.
Then again, the Eagles averaged 21 points at home and 26.1 points on the road this season.
The Eagles have won 10 of the past 11 and six straight games versus the Giants. The Birds are 5-0 against head coach Pat Shurmur, who will be without most of his tight ends as well as his right tackle.
There’s a 75 percent chance the Eagles will prevail Sunday per Nate Silver’s 538.com formula and 72 percent per playoffstatus.com.
Winning the division would be short-lived in that the Eagles would open the playoffs either Saturday or next Sunday at the Linc against the loser of the San Francisco-Seattle contest Sunday night at CenturyLink Field.
The Seahawks have a better road (7-1) than home record. The 49ers are 6-1 on the road.
“We have to win this one, just like the last few weeks,” Wentz said. “I think everyone knows that. Obviously, we’ve had a couple of emotional wins the last few weeks. And as leaders and as coaches, they’ve done a great job of making sure the guys bought into this, the here and now and not dwelling on the past and not looking ahead, either. We’ve got our work cut out for us against a good opponent on the road and obviously if we win, we’re in. So we know what’s at stake.”