Philadelphia Eagles must fend off upstart Giants for a third time

Last week, I picked the Giants as my upset win in the NFL Super Wildcard round.  For the record, I correctly picked all six winners, just saying.  The Giants now head out to Philadelphia to face off with the Eagles for a third time this season.  The previous two meetings were both won by the Eagles by a combined score of 70 – 38.  The last meeting was close, 22 – 16 but also featured a banged-up Jalen Hurts.

Hurts had a couple of weeks since that game to further recover from his shoulder injury and should be closer to 100 percent now.  Many aren’t giving the Giants much of a chance here but their confidence is at an all-time and they believe they can win, which can be dangerous.

Daniel Jones was fantastic against the Minnesota Vikings, throwing for 301 yards, two touchdowns, and no turnovers while adding another 78 yards on the ground.  If he can duplicate this performance, and he’ll need to, I think the Giants have a shot.  It would also help if Saquan Barkley could have another day of 100-plus yards from scrimmage, with a couple of touchdowns like he did against the Vikings.

Let’s not forget Isaiah Hodgins too, with his eight receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown.  The problem here is the Vikings’ defense is not good, like not good at all!  I detailed this fact in my previous article.  This Eagles’ defense is considerably better, as they are the number two defense in the NFL, behind only the San Francisco 49ers.  Add to this the fact their offense is third-best in the league and it doesn’t look good for the Giants.

The Eagles are one of only two teams remaining in the playoffs that come in with an offense and defense ranked in the top five, the other being the San Francisco 49ers.  Are these two headed for an NFC title game clash?  We’ll know the answer to that after this weekend but for now, the Eagles will need to take care of business with the Giants.

Playoff games are typically not easy, regardless of the opponent, and a divisional rival.  This could be a closer game than some expect; however, I believe the Eagles handle this one with relative ease.

Eagles take down the Giants, 30 – 17.