The New York Giants[6-11] defeat the Philadelphia Eagles[11-6] 27-10. The Giants did not make the playoffs, but the Eagles will travel to Tampa Bay to face the Buccaneers for the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
1st Quarter: Giants Kicker Mason Crosby kicks a 24-yard field goal. A.J. Brown fumbles the ball and the Giants recover at their own 19-yard line.
2nd Quarter: Giants Running Back Saquon Barkley runs in a 2-yard touchdown. Saquon Barkley runs in a 3-yard touchdown. Giants Quarterback Tyrod Taylor throws a 19-yard touchdown to Wide Receiver Darius Slayton. Eagles Quarterback Jalen Hurts throws an interception to Giants Safety Xavier McKinney who gives the Giants the ball at their own 36-yard line. The Eagles put Marcus Mariota in at Quarterback and on the first play throws an interception to Xavier McKinney who sets the Giants up at the Philadelphia 12-yard line. Following the interception, Tyrod Taylor throws a tipped pass which is intercepted by Eagles Safety Reed Blankenship in the endzone for a touchback. The Eagles pull their veteran players before the end of the second quarter. The Giants lead at halftime 24-0.
3rd Quarter: Eagles Kicker Jake Elliott kicks a 36-yard field goal.
4th Quarter: Marcus Mariota throws a 16-yard touchdown to Wide Receiver Quez Watkins. Mason Crosby kicks a 21-yard field goal. Marcus Mariota is strip sacked and the Giants recover at the Philadelphia 28-yard line. Mason Crosby’s 45-yard field goal hits the post and is no good. The Giants win 27-10.
Eagles Notes:
Not a single part of this game went right for the Eagles. The run game, the pass game, the offensive line, the pass defense, the run defense, play calling, and coaching. I have not felt this badly about an Eagles loss with where the season was going in years. This is the worst stretch I have seen for a team we just saw make the Super Bowl. The game did not mean anything for the playoffs. If this was a 70-0 win or 0-70 loss the Eagles would still be traveling to Tampa to face the Buccaneers in the first round of the playoffs. I really do not know how to feel right now. I have watched 8 Eagles teams make the playoffs. Some years it feels like we could make a run and others feel like being in the playoffs is awesome for the future of the franchise. This team does not feel like either. Even the year they won the Super Bowl I had optimism with Foles and the rest of the team’s prior experience. Nick Sirianni’s recent comments about not changing, being 0-0 going into the playoffs, and talking about looking at how the team played early in the season are terrible looks. This is not the same coach from the last few seasons. Sirianni used to strive to adapt every single week and change philosophies when the team needed it. This year there was none of that. He is saying that this is his offense and he should be to blame but that paints a bad picture for Brian Johnson in these interviews with other teams to be a Head Coach. The players are blaming themselves for the hard work they are putting in. Some are now getting injured. This is how Doug Pederson ran the final few years in Philadelphia. Refusing to change and keeping players in a situation to get hurt. It seems like the Super Bowl appearance did not get into the players’ heads to make them feel arrogant, but Sirianni I think otherwise. It seems he is thinking of the big picture of the Super Bowl instead of taking one game at a time. Showing what this team has done to prove what they can do is not the right way to fix a problem. Make a clean slate. Stick by that 0-0 record but make the necessary changes to win this game against the Buccaneers. Do not even think about the opponent for the Divisional Round. The defense needs to change schematically. Nothing is going right so any change will be better. There are players not getting enough playing time, some playing out of position, and others not knowing what they should be doing. Get back to the basics and stick to those assignments. Stop trying to get creative anymore. It does not seem like anyone wants to pick the Eagles to beat the Bucs so prove them wrong.
-Jordan Burden