Giants play Eagles in NFC East battle.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Joe Judge is doing his best to keep emotion out of Thursday night’s trip to his native Philadelphia, his first as head coach of the Giants.
Good luck. Having been one himself growing up, Judge knows enough about Eagles fans to prepare for the worst as an opponent stepping inside their stadium.
“I’ll probably buy a helmet, too, because my in-laws are already buying batteries,” Judge said Monday with a smile.
That goes for the history Judge has inherited with the Giants, who have an unfathomable 1-11 record against the Eagles since 2013, including seven losses in a row. Big Blue have not won at Lincoln Financial Field in seven seasons, and on that day Josh Brown kicked five field goals, Peyton Hillis was the leading rusher and Victor Cruz their leading receiver.
“To be honest with you, it’s not my first time going back to Philly as an opposing coach. It’s a great city. It has great, passionate fans. It’s an excellent team. It’s obviously a great rivalry. I grew up watching these games,” Judge said. “They were always tough games, blue-collar type games, when the Eagles and the Giants were playing when I was growing up watching the games. Again, you’re so focused on the opponent, the emotion doesn’t really get tied into it. We just know we have a heck of a team we have to match up against.”
Well, yeah, maybe. Thing is, the NFC East is scuffling in 2020, and that’s a nice way of putting it.
The Giants were the only team in the division to post a victory this past weekend, and the first-place Cowboys were embarrassed on national TV Monday in their first game without Dak Prescott, losing 38-10 to the Cardinals.
Dallas is the lone NFC East team with two wins, followed by the Eagles (1-4-1), the Giants (1-5) and the Washington Football Team (1-5), which lost to the Giants. Whichever team wins the division will host a playoff game, and for the Giants, currently projected to pick third overall in the 2021 Draft, an incredibly-elusive triumph over the Eagles would result in a tie atop the standings.
Judge is still working through all the ticket requests for Thursday night, half-joking that he has a large group of cousins that has been pushing to be in attendance since the summer. His immediate family – his wife, Amber, and their four children – will likely be there, since it’s the first game they can go to.
There’s one rule for anyone who gets a ticket from Judge, and it’s non-negotiable. “The kids have got school on Friday, so I’ll see how they’re gonna manage that, they’ve gone to school plenty of times tired ... they definitely don’t want to miss it,” he said. “My only rule is really, anyone who shows up that I grew up with or have blood ties with, they’ve gotta wear blue. I respect their love for the Eagles, from being in town, but, hey look, man, you ain’t showing up and cheering against my kids’ Christmas.”