Game Preview – PHI at NYG

The quest for .500 resumes on Sunday. The Eagles are 3-4-1 and just one win away from getting to .500 for the first time in 2020. While this wouldn’t be significant in any real way, it would be good for the team to see that record and feel good about themselves.

Good teams expect to win. Bad teams expect bad things to happen. The Giants have had late leads in recent games, only to blow them. You know the players had to be thinking “What’s going to happen today?” even when they were winning. Learning how to win is hard. A big part of that is having the right mentality.

And part of that mentality is derived from your record.

The Eagles are coming off a bye, where they got much needed rest and more time for the walking wounded to return from injury. The Giants are coming off a win over Washington, the only team they’ve beat this year. They are 2-0 vs WFT and 0-7 vs the rest of the league.

I think the Eagles are the better team heading into this game, but the Giants have been improving recently. They blew double-digit leads to Dallas, Tampa and the Eagles. You applaud the fact they can build a lead, but have to point out their inability to hold the lead.

What’s going right for them?

The OL has really come together in recent weeks. That has helped the run game to come alive. The Giants are averaging 140 yards on the ground in the last four weeks. The Eagles limited their RBs to 65 yards, but gave up 92 to QB Daniel Jones.

The defense has also played better vs the run. They’ve held the last four opponents under 100 yards on the ground. The defense has nine takeaways in the last four games so they are making plays.

Stats aside, the Giants have also passed the eye test. They are 2-4 in the last six games, but the biggest margin is eight points. The Giants are playing hard. They are competing. They haven’t been good enough to win, but this team is getting better.

So what’s gone wrong?

The passing game still has issues. Too many sacks and turnovers. Not enough big plays. Jones continues to be erratic. He’ll look brilliant for a moment and then awful. WR Sterling Shepard is now healthy and productive, but Darius Slayton has been quiet. TE Evan Engram is more of a tease than a consistent playmaker. There is no denying his potential, though.

The pass defense has also struggled. Alex Smith came off the bench last week and looked great, up until the very end of the game. Washington had players running around wide open. The pass rush lacks weapons.

The Eagles are also an inconsistent team, but they are finding ways to win. They came up big in the fourth quarter in wins over the Giants and Cowboys. Both of those teams have new coaches. The Eagles have a veteran team and a veteran staff so that gives them an advantage.

Philly won the first game this year, 22-21. The Giants won’t recognize the team on the field on Sunday. There will be multiple key players playing in this game who missed the previous meeting.

Miles Sanders
Jalen Reagor
Alshon Jeffery
Dallas Goedert
Jason Peters
Malik Jackson
T.J. Edwards
Avonte Maddox

The Eagles are getting a major shot in the arm.

That doesn’t mean they’ll go out and dominate. We’ve seen this team struggle no matter who is on the field. Carson Wentz must protect the ball better and quit trying to be the hero. He needs to be smarter. Wentz should have a good O-line and good weapons. If he can be patient and find the open man, the Eagles offense should play much better.

We’re all curious to see how Jeffery is used. Some are worried about him taking snaps away from Travis Fulgham. I don’t see that. I think Jeffery will take them away from JJAW and Greg Ward. We’ll know for sure on Sunday.

Will the week off change anything for Wentz? Getting help back will probably do more than the rest, but a little time away can’t hurt.

The Eagles defense had multiple takeaways in the past two games. If they can keep that up, they should win on Sunday. I’m excited to see what Edwards does. He played well against Dallas and could be good against a team like the Giants that would like to run the ball.

I think one of the real keys in this game will be the Eagles attitude. If they get cocky, the Giants will go win this game. If the Eagles are focused and play with an edge, they will win.

The Eagles are on a two-game win streak. They are coming off a bye. They are getting healthy. They own the Giants. I just wonder how this team will handle all of that. Last year the Eagles won consecutive games, had their bye and then lost three straight games.

This is a different team. There are different circumstances. I’m still very curious to see how this team plays. It might tell us a lot about what to expect in the second half of the season.

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Is There Hope?

The first half of the 2020 season was bad. Frustrating and bad. Depressing and bad. Boring and bad. Are you picking up on a theme?

The Eagles limped into the bye week with a 3-4-1 record, which included ugly wins over the Giants and Cowboys. It feels like the Eagles will stumble into an ugly division title and then a quick exit from the postseason. Based on what we’ve seen, you can’t expect much more than that.

I do wonder if we’ll get something more from this team. They have struggled with injuries in a major way. Coming off the bye week, the team is starting to heal. The OL is coming together. The return of Isaac Seumalo would help in a major way. Then you add a playmaker like Miles Sanders. Alshon Jeffery will play at some point. It is a mystery how good he’ll actually be, but even if he’s a role player, Jeffery is a major upgrade on JJAW.

Jalen Reagor and Dallas Goedert are healthier and the rust should be gone. Both guys can be key players for the offense.

Travis Fulgham will continue his ascension to Greatest WR of All Time. We will get to see more of Jalen Hurts and he could become an important playmaker for the Eagles.

There is also hope for the defense. T.J. Edwards and Will Parks are coming off their best games of the year. They could help the back seven to play better in the second half of the season. There is now some depth in the secondary so Jim Schwartz can choose who to play rather than looking for whoever is healthy enough to take the field.

The Eagles have yet to play a good game this year. They have looked good for quarter or even a half (or sometimes not at all). At some point, things will come together and the team will play well. Almost every team does this for a week or two.

I don’t have any confidence in this team, but I am fascinated by the potential, if they can stay healthy. If the revolving door continues, the miserable season will continue.

Carson Wentz has been a trainwreck this year, but that could change. If he has improved protection, a legit ground game and good receivers to throw to, Wentz could suddenly look like…Carson Wentz. You know, the guy who has played like a franchise QB at times. The guy who has carried the team on his back at times. If Wentz starts to fly right, this season gets interesting quickly.

The Giants defense is middle of the pack. The Browns are in the bottom third of the league. Seattle has the worst pass defense in the league. That three-week stretch could help the Eagles offense to wake up and get going.

What about the Eagles defense?

They are playing their best football of the season. That’s still flawed to be sure, but there is reason to be encouraged. The DL continues to be outstanding. The LBs have shown promise over the past few weeks. The secondary is getting healthy and starting to make plays.

Even if this team does come together and starts playing better, there is a limited ceiling. There are too many holes on the roster for this team to do much. But they can take a major step forward from the way they played in the first half of the season.

There is value in having this team playing well down the stretch. We still need to see Wentz play significant time in a playoff game. The young players and rookies would all benefit from playing in a playoff game. I believe the playoff run of 2013 helped the team in the 2017 postseason. Players had some idea of what to expect, in terms of the speed of the game and the pressure of the situation.

Just because this team is flawed doesn’t mean they can’t do some good things that will help in the future.

There are no guarantees, of course. The injuries could continue. Wentz could keep turning the ball over at a Daniel Jonesian rate. And this team could continue to find new ways to lose.

No matter what happens, at least entertain us. Bad and boring isn’t fair in a year when we need every good distraction we can get.

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