November 26, 2021
The Eagles are suddenly one of the hotter teams in football, at least in comparison to where they were just a few short weeks ago. And after the Cowboys' loss to the Raiders on Thanksgiving, it's not just the wild card that's a possibility for Nick Sirianni's team.
And now, coinciding with the Eagles' improved play is a much-easier slate of games, the one that fans had been waiting for all season. It features two games each against the Giants and Washington, as well as a trip to the Jets and a season finale matchup against the Cowboys. And with a win on Sunday in their first of those two meetings against the Giants, the Birds can move to within a game and a half of Dallas as the season heads into its final stretch.
After half a season spent as underdogs looking to pull off upsets, the Birds should spend most of the remainder of the season as the favorite looking to take care of business. And that starts on Sunday as 3.5-point favorites on the road in the Meadowlands.
As we do every week, we've rounded up a slew of predictions from both the local and national media to get a sense of how the experts see this Eagles vs. Giants matchup playing out — including a few against the spread. Let's dive right in...
• PhillyVoice: It's a clean sweep for our writers, with all seven of us picking the Birds in this one. Here's the pick from yours truly, which includes a bit of a mea culpa as I see the Eagles picking up their sixth win by a score of 31-20...
Who would’ve thought back in August that, at any point this year, the Eagles would be going for a third straight win — with the possibility of a fourth next week — as they prepare to face both New York teams in back-to-back weeks before the bye? Certainly not me. But here we are, with the Eagles a road favorite against the 3-7 Giants, who are coming off a short week and just fired their offensive coordinator.
This is a game the Eagles absolutely should win, as they’ve made a living dominating in the trenches in recent weeks. On the offensive side, that’s not only opened up the running game and turned this team into one of the NFL’s top rushing attacks, but it’s also given Jalen Hurts time to sit in the pocket and make throws when he needs to, something he’s done a lot better job of bailing early on too many plays previously this season. On the defensive side of the ball, it’s allowed them to get after the quarterback and make big plays off turnovers.
And now, they face the Giants with a chance to get to .500 on the season and pick up their sixth win, which means it’s probably about time I apologize for massively underselling this team in the beginning of the year. I predicted them to win just six games. I now think they’re going to have that many by Sunday night. And with the schedule in front of them, who knows how many they have by the time the season ends. Will it be enough to get in the playoffs? With so many teams jockeying for the wild card spots, we’ll see. But if they continue playing this way, whether they get in or not, it will be hard not to call this season a success.
• Inquirer.com: All three of their Eagles writers are picking the local team in this one, including Josh Tolentino, who has them winning 30-17.
Welcome to the final stretch of the Eagles’ regular season schedule, which is filled with underwhelming opponents ... beginning with the New York Giants.
The Eagles, winners of three of their last four, have a strong opportunity to stack victories over the final 1 1/2 months of the season. According to FiveThirtyEight’s projections, the Eagles have a 40% chance to make the playoffs. They also have the easiest remaining schedule in the NFL. Of course, Sirianni is maintaining his 1% better every day philosophy, but it’s difficult to not look ahead considering the team’s current position. The Eagles’ next three opponents (Giants, Jets, Washington) spanning the next six weeks have a combined record of 9-21. The Eagles also have a late-season bye sprinkled in Week 14.
The Giants ridding their offensive coordinator won’t magically solve all of their issues, and the visitors are catching fire at the right time.
• NJ.com: All but one of their writers are taking the Eagles, with the lone exception being Darryl Slater, who is picking the Giants to win, 20-17...
New offensive coordinator for the Giants, with Jason Garrett fired. But will the results be any different? Remember, this Giants offensive line is still a mess, and the jury is still very much out on whether Daniel Jones actually is a franchise quarterback. He sure didn’t look like one in Monday night’s awful loss at the Buccaneers. Still, the Giants will muster a good enough performance on defense — as they retire Michael Strahan’s number — to make up for their usual crummy offensive showing. This one will be ugly, but the Giants will happily take it.
• Bleeding Green Nation: It's another clean sweep over at BGN, with all seven of their writers taking the Eagles.
• The Athletic: Seven of their nine writers are picking the Eagles, but this doesn't include beat writers Zach Berman and Bo Wulf, whose picks haven't been posted yet.
• Gregg Rosenthal, NFL.com: Eagles 27, Giants 20
The Eagles' transformation hasn't only come on offense. While Jalen Hurts, Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson have steamrolled opponents for the league's best running game since Week 8, Philadelphia's defense has shown some growth over the last month, too. No longer content to just allow underneath receptions, the Eagles are blitzing and getting more pressure with varied defensive looks. That should be enough against a lost Giants offense, even if it gets a post-Jason Garrett bump. When Giants GM Dave Gettleman arrived, he wanted to build a team that was great at running and stopping the run. The Giants are 30th in rush defense DVOA, making them ill-equipped to deal with this Eagles squad.
• ESPN: Nine of their 10 experts are picking the Eagles over the Giants.
• Tim McManus, ESPN: Eagles 27, Giants 13
• Jordan Raanan, ESPN: Giants 27, Eagles 25
• Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: Giants 23, Eagles 20
The Eagles are riding high, while the Giants are playing on a short week after a terrible showing against the Bucs Monday night. So why do I like the Giants? I just think they will respond after a poor performance to play better on both sides of the ball. They will limit the Eagles run game, which has keyed them playing better. The Giants pull off the upset.
• CBS Sports: Seven of their eight experts are predicting an Eagles win on Sunday, while six believe the Eagles will also cover the 3.5-point spread.
• ProFootballTalk: Both Mike Florio and Michael David Smith are picking the Eagles to win by double digits. Here's the latter's prediction.
MDS’s take: The Eagles have been one of the best teams in the NFL over the last month. They’ll keep it going against the Giants.
MDS’s pick: Eagles 30, Giants 20.
• USA TODAY Sports: All seven of their experts are picking the Eagles.
• Bleacher Report: Eagles 24, Giants 21 (NOTE: Three of their six writers are taking the Birds to cover and three are taking Denver.)
We have another hook in play with the surging Philadelphia Eagles taking on the potentially flustered New York Giants Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Without that hook, it'd be hard to justify backing the G-Men after they laid an egg against the Bucs Monday night before firing offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, but the Giants covered in both of their matchups with Philly last year and you just never know what to expect in these NFC East matchups between mediocre teams.
Sobleski on Philadelphia: "The Eagles found their winning formula. They're running the ball successfully behind arguably the game's most physical offensive front and taking full advantage of Jalen Hurts' dual-threat capabilities. One the opposite side of the field, the Giants lack any kind of identity. No one on offense is playing particularly well. New York hasn't scored 30 points in the team's last 21 games, while Philadelphia has done it twice in the last two weeks (and three of their last four outings)."
Gagnon on the Giants: "By no means do I trust the Giants, but I don't feel any better about laying more than a field goal with the Eagles on the road. They're playing solid football, but that defense is still vulnerable and let's not forget that the Giants won two of three prior to their Week 10 bye. A dud against the Bucs isn't that shameful. They'll put up a fight against a similar-caliber team here."
You're rolling the dice either way in this spot.
• Sheil Kapadia, The Athletic: Sheil picks games against the spread every week, and this week he thinks the Eagles both win and cover the spread.
Here’s what stood out to me about the Giants’ performance Monday night against the Bucs.
Peyton and Eli grew up in a football family and combined to play 33 years in the NFL.
— Sheil Kapadia (@SheilKapadia) November 23, 2021
There have been three times tonight where they've said, "I don't really know what they're doing" in reference to something the Giants did.And here’s a graphic that shows the Eagles’ advantage on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
— Brian Burke (@bburkeESPN) November 24, 2021I don’t have much else to add. I like the Eagles.
The pick: Eagles (-3.5)
• Bill Bender, Sporting News: Eagles 25, Giants 20
The Eagles have built some momentum with back-to-back victories in which they have scored at least 30 points. New York is coming off a short week and still mixing and matching its offense. New York did beat Philadelphia at home last season, but that was a different regime.
• Vinny Iyer, Sporting News: Giants 24, Eagles 23
The Giants are coming off tough Monday night home game vs. the Buccaneers. The Eagles have been red-hot of late, doing damage with Jalen Hurts leading a run-heavy approach. They also have been careful with limited receiving options for Hurts. Danel Jones' team has been playing spoiler for fringe playoff teams ahead of them, including the Saints, Panthers and Raiders. New York would love nothing more than to burn Philadelphia with Saquon Barkley and a high-percentage passing game from Jones, who makes a few more plays at home to beat Hurts.
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