Giants vs. Eagles: 5 things to know about Week 18
The New York Giants (5-11) close out their 2023 regular season schedule this Sunday afternoon when they host the Philadelphia Eagles (11-5) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Here are five things to know before Sunday’s Week 18 game.
The series
The Giants are 85-90-2 in the regular season against Philadelphia (2-3 in the postseason) going back to 1933.
The Eagles have won 13 of the last 15 meetings and the most recent five, including a 33-25 victory in Week 16 at Lincoln Financial Field.
Philadelphia swept Big Blue in both regular season games last season and also defeated them in the NFC Divisional playoffs, 38-7.
The Giants are 2-3 against their NFC East opponents this season.
What's at stake
For the Eagles, they are still alive in the race for the NFC East title. The two scenarios are as follows:
Philadelphia win combined with a Dallas loss or tie
Philadelphia tie combined with a Dallas loss
If the Cowboys win, the Eagles will be the fifth seed in the NFC Playoffs and will face the winner of the NFC South on the road on Super Wild Card Weekend.
For the Giants, they are playing for draft position. They currently hold the fifth selection in the upcoming NFL draft.
A win would drop them as many as three slots while a loss combined with other events could see them end up as high as No. 2 overall.
Will the Eagles sit some starters?
The Eagles, as we stated above, need Dallas to lose in order to win the NFC East crown. That could lead to head coach Nick Sirianni sitting some starters, a strategy he indicated on Monday.
“Obviously, we always try to think through everything at all times and we are always thinking about those things,” Sirianni said. “We’re going to do whatever we need to do to win this game. But still, that’s a consideration, what you’re saying, because we think through all those different things. So, we understand we are at the mercy of another team to win the division, all those different things. But we still know that we’ve got to — like you can’t control that (Commanders-Cowboys) game, right?
“There are so many different things that you can’t control in there, so you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to win this game.”
The Giants-Eagles kickoff is for 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday but so is the Dallas-Washington game, so Sirianni will have to make these decisions early.
Eagles are cold while the Giants could be bold
The Giants have lost three straight but have been competitive since reinstating Tyrod Taylor as the starting quarterback.
Last week against the Rams, Taylor tossed for 319 yards and nearly pulled off a mild upset, falling 26-25.
Head coach Brian Daboll has pulled out all the stops here late in the season and will continue to do so this week.
The Eagles have lost four of their last five, their only win being their Week 16 victory over the Giants. They may not squeak by the Giants a second time.
Milestones
The Giants are third in the NFL this season with 27 takeaways. With two this week, they can surpass their most recent high of 28, set in 2015.
Last week, the Giants scored two touchdowns of 80 or more yards in the same game for the first time in their 99-year history: an 80-yard pass from QB Tyrod Taylor to WR Darius Slayton and a 94-yard punt return by WR Gunner Olszewski.
Saquon Barkley can surpass Joe Morris for third on the Giants’ all-time rushing list with 132 yards on the ground this week.
