On Christmas, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New York Giants 33-25, after almost letting a 17-point halftime lead slip away forever. They defeated the Giants for the 12th time in a row, ending a three-game losing run. The victory also maintains the Eagles’ position as the NFC East favorites, at 11-4.
Meanwhile, the Giants dropped to 5-10 and may have to start a new quarterback after benching Tommy DeVito in favor of backup Tyrod Taylor before halftime.
This is an analysis of the Christmas conflict:
Eagles of Philadelphia
After losing three straight, the Eagles and their supporters were expecting that Monday’s game against the Giants would be a make-or-break affair.
Although they managed to prevail, their performance was not very inspirational.
Lately, inaccuracies have been a recurring issue, and Philadelphia made a few of them in the second half. The Giants closed the gap to two points when they gave up a turnover on the opening kickoff of the third quarter. Quarterback Jalen Hurts then hit tight end Adoree’ Jackson with a pick-six after tight end Dallas Goedert faltered while cutting.
An 8-play, 75-yard touchdown drive by Hurts and the offense in response helped preserve the victory and prevent catastrophe. However, the atmosphere in the stadium seemed more to suggest that the Eagles were lucky to be facing a weak club than that they are now back on track.
Positive aspect: With a home game against the 3-12 Arizona Cardinals coming up before finishing the regular season against the Giants, the Eagles are fortunate to have the easiest closing schedule in the NFL. Philadelphia is the favorite to win the NFC East since the Cowboys (10-5) have lost their previous two games.
Purchase a breakthrough show: Britain For the most part of the season, Covey has been among the leaders in punt return average; but, on his third return for 66 yards, including an incredible 54-yard return that set up an Eagles touchdown on their first play, he had his greatest outing of the year. Additionally, the Utah native, who is in his second year, witnessed an increase in playing time at receiver and made his first grab in the NFL.
A promising development: Shaquille Leonard started in place of injured linebackers Zach Cunningham and Nicholas Morrow, recording his first sack since the 2020 campaign in addition to a few tackles for loss and a quarterback hit. The former All-Pro star has struggled recently with back ailments, but on Monday he gave a struggling linebacker corps some optimism.
The Giants of New York
Tommy DeVito did not have a happily ever after on Christmas. Instead, Tyrod Taylor was benched in favor of him at halftime.
The benching was a coach’s choice based on ineffectiveness, not injury.
In the first half, DeVito completed 9 of 16 passes for 55 yards, and the Giants were down 20-3. Daboll chose the seasoned Taylor over the undrafted youngster who had become rather popular in the neighborhood.
On his opening drive, Taylor found running back Saquon Barkley three times in a row, which lead them to a score. Later on, he hit wide receiver Darius Slayton with a precise pass that resulted in a long score.
This entertaining tale most likely came to an end with DeVito’s Christmas performance. The notably homegrown local hero, who struck a chord with a significant section of the Giants fan base, won three consecutive starts in late November and early December. To only one interception, he has thrown seven touchdown passes.
QB Breakdown: DeVito averaged only 1.1 air yards, going 9 of 16 for 55 yards and 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. In the first half, the Giants offense amassed 101 total yards. In a defeat against the Saints the previous week, they also had 101 total yards in the fourth quarter.
The longest Giants play of the season came when Taylor, who was 7 of 16 throwing for 133 yards with one score and one interception, found Darius Slayton for a 70-yard touchdown pass. However, he also failed two crucial, quite simple third-down throws, which caused drives to stall.
Troubling Trend: Giants versus. winning clubs. Before the Giants are regarded seriously, they have a long way to go. This defeat is only the most recent instance. As of right now, they have lost their last seven games against opponents that are presently winning. Of them, five were by ten points or more. The goal for this season was to become closer to the Dallas Cowboys and Eagles. Rather, in the Giants’ three meetings with Dallas and Philadelphia, they have been outscored 122-42. It demonstrates how far they have to go before they can contend in the NFC, much alone the NFC East. A busy off-season is ahead.
Positive: A superior draft choice. Now that they have won three consecutive games, the Giants are once again in the running for a very high draft choice, after a short period of optimism a few weeks ago. Based on ESPN Analytics, they are the favorites to choose fifth in the 2017 NFL draft. The Giants had a 63.3% probability of finishing in the top 5 going into Monday. That will only go up, particularly since they have the Los Angeles Rams and Eagles as major underdogs in their next two games.
Crucial play: The Giants’ special teams seem to have a costly bad play every week. In this case, it was allowing Covey to return a punt 54 yards after the New York offense had gone three and out to begin the game. After two plays, the Eagles had moved to the Giants’ 13-yard line, leading to a 7-0 score. With an EPA of -7.18, the Giants special teams were ranked 22nd going into Monday. Given Thomas McGaughey’s position as special teams coordinator for the next season, it is questionable whether head coach Brian Daboll would really want to go back to the previous system given the ongoing issues.
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