Our Eagles vs. Giants predictions for NFL divisional round

0
44
Our Eagles vs. Giants predictions for NFL divisional round

[ad_1]

The No. 1-seeded Eagles are hosting the No. 6-seeded Giants on Saturday in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.

To the predictions:

Reuben Frank (13-4)

It’s natural to feel skittish about this game. We just saw the Giants play their best game of the year, on the road, against a 13-win Vikings team. We just saw their young quarterback fashion a masterpiece in his playoff debut. We just saw their rookie coach lead his team to its first postseason win in a decade. But facing an almost completely healthy Eagles team that went 14-1 under Jalen Hurts and is playing at home and is rested after a bye week is an entirely different thing. The Giants scored 31 points against the Vikings’ 31st-ranked defense. If they score 31 on the Eagles’ No. 2-ranked defense, more power to them. But I don’t think they can. I expect Jalen Hurts to be close to 100 percent, and with a healthy Hurts the Eagles are just a better team than the Giants across the board. Hats off to Daboll and the job he’s done this year, but it ends at the Linc.

Eagles 27, Giants 20

Dave Zangaro (13-4)

The Eagles are better than the Giants. They just are. I understand that the Giants looked good last week against the paper tiger Vikings and give them credit. But the Eagles had a more impressive weekend sitting on their couch. They earned that No. 1 seed and let’s be real: If they needed to play the Seahawks last week as the No. 2 seed, they would have smashed them. Brian Daboll clearly has the Giants pointed in the right direction but the Giants’ talent just doesn’t match up.

 

We’ve seen a couple different versions of that Giants defense this season but I have confidence the Eagles will be able to dissect either. If the Giants want to be aggressive and blitz Jalen Hurts, then Hurts will beat them with 1-on-1 mismatches with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and also have the ability to scamper away from pressure. If Wink Martindale wants to do what he did last week against the Vikings, then Dallas Goedert is going to have a huge game like T.J. Hockenson did in the wild card round.

And when the Eagles are on defense, the Giants just don’t have enough firepower. Saquon Barkley looks healthy, Daniel Jones has gotten better and they have a decent trio of receivers. But it’s going to take a perfect game for the Giants to beat the Eagles. Sure, it’s possible. But as long as the Eagles don’t beat themselves, they’ll be hosting the NFC Championship Game next weekend.

Eagles 33, Giants 24

Barrett Brooks (13-4)

It’s time to stop talking about what the Giants have accomplished this year. I respect head coach Brian Daboll and what he has done producing wins with the level of talent he possesses. I am tired of all the hoopla the Giants have received from beating an average Vikings team. Offensively, the Giants have a really good running back in Saquon Barkley. He looks like the rookie back that was so explosive. Daniel Jones has also taken over the offense, meaning it is no longer Saquon left and Saquon right. Daboll is trusting Jones’ arm and his ability to open up the passing game. Jones is now starting to use his legs and scramble more. In my opinion, Mike Kafka is telling his QB that if the first read isn’t there, pull the ball down and run.

DC Don ‘Wink’ Martindale is a blitzer by nature. When I watched the Vikings film, Wink didn’t send the blitz as much. In saying that, I can’t see Wink blitzing Jalen Hurts, because you must run man-to-man. When you play that style, the DBs backs are turned around, which allows Hurts to scramble for more yards. I also see the running game of the Eagles being a potent weapon against the bad run defense of the Giants.

Eagles 32 Giants 18

Mike Mulhern (14-3)

The Giants will fight, they’ll pull out all the stops, but they just simply won’t have enough to beat the Eagles. The national and New York media seem desperate for any semblance of success from either of the teams in East Rutherford, but pump the brakes on the 2007 Giants Super Bowl comparisons. It’d be like expecting the Eagles to hoist the Lombardi Trophy every time the backup quarterback comes in just because Nick Foles was magical in 2017. Yet, winning three of your last nine games, including a win over the fraudulent Vikings now somehow equates to the Giants being “on a roll.”

 

Yes, Daniel Jones looked great a week ago, but Minnesota’s defense is one of the worst in the league. He should have diced them up. In fact, he had just done so in Week 16, albeit to much less fanfare. The Eagles pass rush is on a different level. They have two elite corners on the back end. Keep Jones contained in the pocket, and it’ll be a long day for him.

Brian Daboll has built great culture in New York, but so has Nick Sirianni here in Philly. His Eagles will be laser-focused, starting with Jalen Hurts and his healing shoulder. The Birds quarterback dealt with detractors after last year’s ugly playoff exit to the Buccaneers. On Saturday he’ll show just how far he’s come. I expect an MVP-level performance which has become the norm for him this season. The Giants will likely bring lot of pressure, which should lead to plenty of opportunities for A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith down the field. Plus, Dallas Goedert saw how little resistance the Giants posed to T.J. Hockenson last week and told our John Clark that he asked for more plays this week as a result. He could be in line for a big day himself. The Eagles move one step closer to Arizona.

Eagles 34, Giants 20

Adam Hermann (15-2)

If you listened to some football analysts this week, they told you the Giants are hitting their stride at the right time and Daniel Jones has become a reliable, borderline elite QB.

Let’s be real.

The Giants have won four games since the start of November. They beat the Texans (3-13-1), they beat the Commanders (8-8-1), they beat the Colts (4-12-1), and last week they beat the most fraudulent 13-4 team in NFL history.

This is a perfectly acceptable-to-good football team, one with youth and upside and one that is absolutely playing better football than I thought possible this season. Hats off to Brian Daboll, Saquon Barkley, and Daniel Jones.

But the Eagles are beating this team by multiple scores this weekend.

Here’s why.

1. The Giants can’t stop the run. They rank 31st in rush yards per attempt allowed, 27th in total rush yards allowed, 20th in rushing touchdowns allowed. The Eagles are one of the best rushing teams in the NFL, particularly when Jalen Hurts is healthy and allowed to play his full game. The last time these two teams met the Birds put up 253 rushing yards. I have no reason to expect anything different this time around.

2. The Giants can’t stop good tight ends. Guys like T.J. Hockenson, Dalton Schultz, and Evan Engram absolutely abused New York’s defense this year: Hockenson caught 23 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns in two outings. Yeesh. Dallas Goedert only saw action against the Giants once, in a hamstrung version of the Eagles’ offense, and caught six passes for 46 yards. I expect Goedert to be heavily involved on Saturday in a number of different ways – and good luck putting the clamps on Goedert when your secondary is fighting for its life against A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.

 

3. The Giants’ offense doesn’t scare me. There’s no question that Barkley is a dangerous weapon and that Jones has figured out how to stop turning the ball over at an absurdly high rate. But you’re telling me I should sweat Richie James and Darius Slayton when the Eagles have one of the best cornerback duos in the NFL and C.J. Gardner-Johnson is back from injury? OK. The only thing I worry about is Jones’ legs beating the Eagles over and over. But if your biggest threat in a playoff game at the Linc is Daniel Jones on the run, I’ll take those odds.

You can have all the questions in the world about Hurts’ shoulder, and Lane Johnson’s adductor, and bye week rust. The Eagles are a superior team. We saw it in Week 14 when the Eagles nearly hung a 50-burger on the G-Men, and we’ll see it again this weekend.

Give me a red-hot first half and a double-digit margin of victory.

Eagles 34, Giants 23

Subscribe to the Eagle Eye podcast

Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | Watch on YouTube



[ad_2]

Source link

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here