Week 14 Preview: Eagles Need a Win vs. Giants on Monday Night

Week 14 Preview: Eagles Need a Win vs. Giants on Monday Night

Monday, December 9 at Lincoln Financial Field, Eagles 9.5-point favorites

With Dallas falling again, the Eagles are somehow still only one game out of tying for first place in the NFC East. 

Injury Report:

OUT:

Philadelphia: Kamu Grugier-Hill (LB, concussion)

New York: Corey Ballentine (CB, concussion), Rhett Ellison (TE, concussion), Evan Engram (TE, foot), Daniel Jones (QB, ankle), Chris Peace (LB, knee), Jabrill Peppers (S, back)

QUESTIONABLE:

Philadelphia: Nelson Agholor (WR, knee), Derek Barnett (DE, ankle), Jordan Howard (RB, shoulder)

New York: None 

Welcome back, Eli Manning. Because of Daniel Jones’ ankle sprain, the man with the 116-116 career record will have to break .500 on Monday night. Evan Engram and Jabrill Peppers are other notable players out for New York. For Philadelphia, starting linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill remains in concussion protocol and Jordan Howard’s mysterious “stinger” continues to keep him out of practice. If Nelson Agholor can’t go, Philadelphia’s only receivers will be Alshon Jeffery, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, and Greg Ward. Ouch.

Analysis:

The Eagles were supposed to have what was basically a guaranteed win against the Miami Dolphins last week but they managed to squander a two-touchdown lead against one of the league’s worst teams. This week they hope to avoid the same fate. If they were able to conquer Miami last week and defeat New York this week, they would’ve been alone in first place in the NFC East even with their 37-10 defeat in Dallas. Now, they can only hope to tie. 

The key to this game is Saquon Barkley. He’s been less than impressive since his return from injury, having only one game with 75+ rushing yards and no games with a yards per carry average of more than 4.5. If the Eagles can bottle him up, Eli Manning will have to step up and try to lead this team through the air. I’d much rather have this game rest on his 38-year-old arm than the chiseled quads of Saquon Barkley. In two career games against the Eagles, Barkley has averaged a whopping 185.5 total yards. It’ll be up to the Kamu-less defense to ensure that he can’t maintain that massive average. 

The Eagles cannot take this game lightly. They’re already lucky that the incompetence of the Cowboys lightened the blow of last week’s inexcusable loss, but another letdown would effectively end their season (even if it would still be mathematically possible for them to take the NFC East). They didn’t seem to take Miami seriously, and it cost them. The Giants aren’t a team that should have a shot at beating us, but you just never know what version of the Eagles is going to show up on any given Sunday.

If Philadelphia can get off to a good start just like they did last week, they should remember to run the ball with Miles Sanders who has been effective as of late. Doug Pederson has abandoned him in the second half in a couple of recent games, and it can’t happen again unless you want to give the Giants to claw their way back into the game. Hoping that Golden Tate doesn’t channel his inner DeVante Parker in a potential revenge game.
Prediction: Eagles 27, Giants 16

-By: Micah Jimoh

Writer/Interviewer