December 29, 2019
The hard part is over. Much like the 1980 United States Olympic hockey team still had to take care of business against Finland to win the gold after dispatching of the Soviets, the Eagles still have to beat the Giants to win the NFC East after burying the Cowboys. OK, so that analogy may be a reach.
As always, the Eagles are very banged up. They'll be without Zach Ertz, DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, and probably Lane Johnson. Ho hum. Nothing new there. The Giants, meanwhile, have a few notable injuries of their own, but they are way healthier than your typical 3-12 team. You can find the final Eagles-Giants injury report here.
As we noted in our five matchups to watch, the Eagles' defense is going to have a more difficult time shutting down Giants star running back Saquon Barkley than they did Week 14, as Barkley looks like he has regained his rookie year form after battling through an ankle injury most of the season. Of course, the Eagles also have to worry about the Giants making big plays down the field in the passing game, like they did in the first half of their Week 14 matchup. Offensively, even with so many quality players on the shelf, the Eagles should be able to move the ball against the Giants' horrendous pass defense.
The Eagles were initially as much as 5.5-point favorites for this matchup, but that line has dipped to 3.5 at most sportsbooks, likely because of the Eagles' injury report. Here are our staff writer picks, and who some others around the country are picking in this matchup. For the gambling degenerates, you can find my Week 17 NFL picks here.
The rest of the NFL's slate of Sunday games:
Early games:
Later games:
Primetime:
Feel free to discuss the games below.
