Giants Are Back in NFC East Race with Win over Eagles
GIANTS 27 - EAGLES 17
Believe it or not, the New York Giants find themselves right in the thick of the NFC East title race. Even with all of the awful losses earlier in the season, the blown leads, the heartbreaking finishes, the Giants -- after a 27-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium, have a pulse.
First the on-field performance, and it is hard to argue that for the first time this year we got a complete game from the Giants. Daniel Jones was solid. He didn't turn the ball over once, completing 21-of-28 passes for 244 yards. He even led the Giants in rushing -- again -- this time with 64-yards on nine carries, including a 34-yard touchdown run that gave the Giants an early 7-0 lead.
With New York holding onto a 7-3 lead, Jones led an impressive 13-play, 75-yard drive as he picked apart the secondary before the combination of Jones' own legs and those of Alfred Morris and Wayne Gallman pushed the Giants to the Eagles' two-yard line.
Facing a fourth-and-goal at the Eagles two, the Giants went for it and awarded their head coach Joe Judge's confidence in his offensive unit when Gallman dove over the pole for a touchdown to make it 14-3.
Perhaps the most impressive drive of the day for New York came when they answered Boston Scott's 56-yard touchdown for Philly with a touchdown drive of their own to extend the lead to 21-11. Jones connected on two big pass plays, one for 27-yards to Sterling Shepherd, and a 38-yarder to Golden Tate to move the ball to the Eagles' 10. Three plays later the Giants found paydirt again on a Gallman score.
As for the Eagles, aside from two extensive touchdown drives in the third quarter, quarterback Carson Wentz was under siege by the Giants defense. He was sacked three times and knocked around 13 times. Former Jet Leonard Williams hit Wentz the most with five quarterback hits.
The constant pressure kept the Eagles at bay, as Philadelphia could only break into Giants territory once on their final four possessions.
With the victory the Giants improve to 3-7. Philadelphia falls to 3-5-1. Typically 3-7 is nothing to write home about, but in this case, in this year, it's enough to give the Giants a chance to be in the playoffs.
The Giants own three divisional victories, and are the only team in the NFC East that is over .500 in divisional play at 3-2. With games against the Bengals, Browns, Cardinals and Cowboys remaining on the schedule, the Giants could easily go 6-10 or 7-9 and still, yes, I said it, STILL win the NFC East.
They will need some breaks of course. The Eagles play a brutal stretch of games before their season finale at home against Washington, with games at the Browns, home to Seattle and New Orleans and at Green Bay still on the schedule.
The Cowboys at 2-7 have been a flaming mess, and are on their fourth quarterback already.
Washington doesn't even come into the picture having been swept by the Giants.
In short this is a great opportunity for Big Blue. Daniel Jones is slowly coming into his own. The Giants defense is showing signs of life, and it is clear that head coach Joe Judge has his team's ear. In a year that appeared to be a lost for New York the Giants might surprise us all.
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