Section 215
Fansided

Semi-Coherent Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants Preview

By Mike Lacy

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The Philadelphia Eagles-New York Giants matchup is previewed

In last week’s battle of 1-3 teams, the Eagles proved to less awful than the Saints. Despite some self-inflicted wounds, a strong game by Fletcher Cox helped lead the Eagles to their second win of the season. It gives them some momentum leading into an important divisional matchup.

Despite the shaky start to the season, the Eagles are far from buried. In fact, if they are able to win this week, they could find themselves in first place in the NFC East. On the other hand, if they lose, they’ll be 0-3 in the division, and facing an uphill climb the rest of the way.

New York Giants

Record: 3-2

Head Coach: Tom Coughlin

Last Week: Defeated 49ers 30-27

The Last Time They Met

Last season’s week 17 game between the Eagles and the Giants may have been meaningless in terms of the playoffs, but don’t tell that to Chip Kelly. The Eagles played to win, and win they did! They outlasted the Giants 34-26 and came away with their tenth victory of the season.

Dec 28, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants defensive end

Jason Pierre-Paul

(90) sacks Philadelphia Eagles quarterback

Mark Sanchez

(3) in the second half during the game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Instead of getting a look at second year quarterback Matt Barkley, Kelly chose to play Mark Sanchez. Sanchez played well enough, but this was a pretty good sign that Barkley might not have a bright future with the team. Considering he was outplayed in preseason by Tim Tebow, that lack of faith was probably justified.

What’s the Deal with the Giants

After starting off 0-2, it looked like the Giants were headed for another lost season. They’ve since rolled off three wins in a row, and the offense has looked formidable.

Or at least their passing game has looked formidable. The Giants are seventh in the league in passing yards, but only 26th in rushing yards. Obviously, game situations and opponents can skew these numbers, especially this early in the season, but does any team have a less fearsome running back tandem than Rashad Jennings, Andre Williams, and Shane Vereen?

The Giants defense is nothing special. They rank 27th in yards allowed, mostly because they’re the worst team in the league against the pass. Considering cornerback Prince Amukamara will be out for the next two to four weeks, that number doesn’t figure to improve much in the near future.

Featured Giants Player: Eli Manning

Throughout his career, Eli Manning’s performance has usually depended on the quality of his receivers. Back when Plaxico Burress caught anything thrown near him, Manning was considered one of the best quarterbacks in the league. That stopped as soon as Burress shot himself.

Aug 22, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) has a drink on the sidelines during the second half against the Jacksonville Jaguars at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

A few years ago, when Victor Cruz burst onto the scene, Manning appeared revitalized, only to fade once Cruz’ performance dropped off.

Sadly, the Giants have uncovered yet another receiver capable of making Manning appear elite. Odell Beckham received a lot of publicity for his one-handed catch last season, but that was only one example of the amazing talent he possesses.

Thanks mostly to Beckham, Manning is putting up big numbers. Too bad for him that Beckham’s status is in doubt for this week’s game. If he’s out, then Manning will be forced to rely on Rueben Randle to bail him out. And that means we might see…the Manning Face!

Reason to Hate the Giants

The Giants shouldn’t be good this season. They weren’t very good last season (6-10), had their best player blow up his hand in the offseason (more on this later), and didn’t add any impact free agents. It seemed like the end of the Tom Coughlin era would soon be at hand.

But history has shown us that the Coughlin Giants are kind of like Jason from the Friday the 13th movies. Just when you think they’re finally dead, they’ll rise from the grave. And once that happens – usually thanks to bizarre circumstances (helmet catch anyone?) – they’ll force Eagles fans to watch in horror as they celebrate a Super Bowl victory.

I’m not saying the Giants are going to win the Super Bowl this season…but it wouldn’t shock me if they did.

Super Important Eagles Storyline of the Week: DeMarco vs. Ryan

When the Eagles replaced LeSean McCoy with DeMarco Murray, there was a lot of talk about how Murray was a better stylistic fit for the Eagles offense. (It seems strange to think that a guy who led the league in rushing wasn’t a good fit, but what do I know?) As it turns out, Murray might not be as good a fit as the guy who presumably signed to be his backup.

Oct 11, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back DeMarco Murray (29) and running back Ryan Mathews (24) celebrate a touchdown during the third quarter against the New Orleans Saints at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Murray had his best game of the season last week, but it wasn’t anywhere close to the type of dominating performances he routinely delivered last season. With every lackluster performance by Murray, there’s a growing sentiment that the offense functions better when Ryan Mathews is in the game.

Mathews is certainly no slouch. He’s a former 1,000 yard rusher who has had some injury problems throughout his career. But considering that Murray is the defending rushing champ – and considering that the team owes him a lot of money over the next few years – it isn’t good that Mathews has looked superior.

Before the season, some of us wondered if the Eagles running back committee might back fire on them. Thus far, it hasn’t worked out all that well.

Nick vs. Sam

Since they were traded for each other, it’s only natural that fans would want to compare how Nick Foles and Sam Bradford are faring on their new teams. I’ll take a weekly look at the two quarterbacks and decide who holds the edge.

Sam Bradford once again got off to a slow start last week. And by slow, I mean he threw two awful interceptions in the red zone.

Thankfully, Bradford was able to put that behind him and play well in the second half. He was able to tear apart the weak middle of the Saints’ defense as the Eagles pulled away. If you only factored in the second halves of games, Bradford has been pretty good this season. But last I checked, the first half counts too.

Much like Bradford, Nick Foles had a poor first half last week. Unfortunately for him, he might have played even worse in the second half. It’s a tough task to beat the Packers in Green Bay, but it becomes impossible when the quarterback throws four interceptions.

This week, the edge goes to Sam Bradford.

Oct 11, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford (7) walks off the field after win against the New Orleans Saints at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles defeated the Saints, 39-17. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Mocking the East

Part of the fun of being a football fan is taking pleasure in the misfortune of your favorite team’s rivals. Each week, I’ll find a reason to make fun of one of the other teams in the NFC East. (Note: Although I’m sure I could feature the Redskins every week, I’ll try to spread around the mockery a bit.)

It seems hard to believe, but I haven’t yet discussed Jason Pierre-Paul in this space. If you somehow missed hearing about it, the Giants star pass rusher made headlines this offseason for blowing up part of his hand with a firework.

His mutilated hand quickly became the stuff of myth. There were all sorts of rumors about how badly it was damaged, and the only photographs were blurry and inconclusive.

It isn’t clear if Pierre-Paul will ever play football again, and if so, it probably won’t be for the Giants. They had offered him the franchise designation in the offseason, but that was done with the assumption that he would have all ten fingers.

BTW, I know I shouldn’t make fun of such a serious injury, yet I’m still proud of this Tweet.

Super Bowl Year Song of the Week

The Eagles have not made many appearances in the Super Bowl (Two, to be exact). I’m hopeful that this season will mark their third appearance in the “big game,” so each week I’m going to take a song from one of the franchise’s Super Bowl seasons (1980 and 2004) that somehow relates to this week’s game.

One Thing – Finger Eleven, 2004

The song itself doesn’t have much to do with the game, but after talking about Jason Pierre-Paul, I thought it was proper to feature a band with the word finger in their name.

Prediction

I don’t know if the Eagles were that much better last week or if the Saints are just awful. But after weeks of watching the Eagles struggle, it was nice to see them put up a big win, even if the opponent was less than imposing.

The Giants may be on a three-game win streak, but I’m not all that impressed by them. If Beckham plays, then the Eagles might have some problems. Otherwise, I think they’ll be able to slow the Giants offense enough for Bradford and company to put up some points.

Eagles 30 – Giants 20

Next: Eagles Roundtable: If You Were Chip Kelly Would You go to USC?

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