Why the Giants Will Beat the Eagles, Why they Won't and a Prediction

The New York Giants look to keep their postseason alive Saturday night in their Divisional game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Will the third time be the charm for the New York Giants, who are 0-2 against the Philadelphia Eagles this year, and 3-15 in games played against their rivals since 2014?

If there was ever a time for the Giants to come up with a win against their hated division rivals which, by the way, would snap a winless streak in games played in Philadelphia that dates back to October 2013, this weekend out be it. 

At stake is the right to move on to the NFC Championship game, which will either be hosted by the Cowboys or the 49ers, pending the outcome of their game on Sunday.

Will this be the end of the road for a Giants team of whom not much was expected before the start of the season by the talking heads? Or will the Giants continue authoring a Hollywood-like script that has been far more riveting than the Rocky franchise?

Why the Giants Will Win

The Giants have several intangibles going for them that could make them a surprise winner in this game.

We can start with the confidence factor, which cannot be overlooked. The Giants have been playings some of their best ball these last few weeks, including last week's huge Wild Card win over the Minnesota Vikings. But really, let's go back to the Week 18 game against an Eagles team that was forced to play all its starters (including injured quarterback Jalen Hurts) to lock up the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage.

Meanwhile, the Giants played their backups in a vanilla game plan on both sides of the ball and still managed to keep it a close one.

If you don't think for a moment that didn't instill some confidence in this team that if they could do that with a scaled-down game plan and most of their key players on the bench, then imagine what they must be thinking about this game, where they will not only have all hands on deck, the game plans on both sides of the ball will be far more sophisticated.

From an X's and O's perspective, the Giants' greatest strength--their running game--is probably the Eagles' biggest weakness. For as good as it has been, the Eagles defense has shown that it can be run against.

This is where quarterback Daniel Jones's legs come into play. Jones has 38 carries on designed runs for 293 yards -- an average of 7.71 yards per carry -- in games played this year.

So while the Eagles might try to slow down Saquon Barkley, as others before them have attempted, unless they're planning to assign a spy on Jones (which wouldn't be surprising), the Giants could look to exploit the Eagles run defense on the edges, where they have allowed 108 yards on 23 carries (4.69 yards per carry) with nine first downs on designed runs to the right and 106 yards on 11 carries (9.64 yards per carry) with six first downs on scrambles.

Why the Giants Will Lose

The Jalen Hurts that the Giants saw in the Week 18 regular-season finale had two weeks to heal that injured shoulder of his. Apparently, he made enough progress to where he didn't even land on the team's injury report, which means he's not only good to go this week, he's good to go full blast.

The Eagles are 23-11 with Hurts under center, including this year's 14-1 record. Much in the same way that Giants quarterback Daniel Jones gives his team a dual threat as a runner and passer, Hurts does the same.

The difference, though, is Hurts has the competitive edge regarding his receiving talent of A.J. Brown, DeVonte Smith, and Quez Watkins.

And did we mention that the Eagles offensive line is probably one of, if not the best, in football right now? Per Pro Football Focus, the Eagles finished second in pass-blocking efficiency with an 89.7 score.

The real challenge for the Giants will be on their offense vs. the Eagles defense. The Eagles finished first in the league in sacks (70), two shy of the NFL record. They have a strong defensive secondary where most of its members have coverage ratings of well under 92.

In short, there are a lot of factors on paper that say this is a very bad matchup for the Giants. And while games aren't played on paper, it still seems like an uphill battle for the Giants to climb.

Prediction

Go ahead and toss the first two games out the window because the two teams that take the field Saturday night are in much different places than they were earlier. 

This one will come down to talent, and in a position-by-position comaprison, the Eagles have the better roster, which, when you combine that with the home-field advantage, gives them a clear competitive edge.

That said, this Giants team is scrappy well-coached, and quietly confident. This game is going to be another thriller, but at the end of the day, while the Giants will give the Eagles all they can handle, the talent disparity might be the biggest factor in the Giants losing yet another heartbreaker at a place that has been a House of Horrors for them. 

Eagles 30, Giants 27

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