Giants Victorious Over Eagles in Division Thriller

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The Giants (5-3) were able to seal the victory against division rival Philadelphia Eagles (4-4), defeating them 28-23 on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium.

The Giants gained early momentum at the start of the game, picking off Eagles QB Carson Wentz twice (Landon Collins, Andrew Adams). After both turnovers, the Giants, specifically QB Eli Manning, replied with two passing touchdowns (26 yards to Odell Beckham Jr., 30 yards to Roger Lewis Jr.). After these touchdowns, the Giants lead the Eagles 14-0 after five plus minutes of play in the game. Eagles kicker Caleb Sturgis’ 34 yard field goal put them on the board, the Giants lead now cut down to 14-3.

One of the main head-scratchers in this game was the Eagles foregoing field goals on fourth down to go for the first down in the red zone. However, the Giants defense engulfed the Eagles offense multiple times in this game. If the Eagles were to go for field goals, they might have actually won the game.

After a 8 yard touchdown run by Eagles running back Ryan Matthews, the Giants lead was now cut down to 14-10. However, the Giants answered right back with a one yard touchdown reception by Beckham, his second reception touchdown of the game and Manning’s third passing touchdown of the game, to give the Giants a 21-10 lead.

The Eagles attempted to put points on the board before the end of the first half. Sturgis entered the game to attempt a 40 yard field goal. However, Jason Pierre-Paul was able to break through the offensive line and block the kick, allowing cornerback Janoris Jenkins to recover the ball. This would allow the Giants to maintain their lead heading into halftime.

At the start of the second half, the Eagles would utilize short passes to work their way down the field, ending with a Kenjon Barner three yard rushing touchdown, putting the Eagles within four points of tying, 21-17. However, the Giants would break away from the Eagles yet again, Manning throwing a 32 yard touchdown pass to rookie Sterling Shepard, giving them a 28-17 lead. This was Manning’s fourth touchdown pass of the game.

Giants’ fans will tell you, not every game is going to be easy. This game can be filed as a stereotypical Giants game, heading down to the final wire. The Eagles would get on the board with two field goals by Sturgis (26 yards, 38 yards), pulling within five points, down 28-23. All the Giants had to do was run the ball, gain first downs, and kill the final 3:51 of the game. But this would not be a typical Giants game if it ended so easily.

On third down and four with 1:55 left in the game and a chance to ice the game, Manning throws a pass intended for tight end Will Tye is intercepted by Jordan Hicks. This play would give the Eagles possession on the Giants own 29 yard line with 1:48 left in the game. A collective groan was heard amongst Giants fans throughout the Tri-State Area.

The Giants defense had other plans for the Eagles, forcing incomplete passes from Wentz to his intended targets. On fourth down and ten, Wentz attempted a fade pass to wide receiver Jordan Matthews, but overthrew him, thus sealing the game for the Giants. An important game that the Giants needed to win.

“We believe we’re a physical football game,” said Giants Head Coach Ben McAdoo. “We believe we’re going to win these games. We needed a lot of different players today. It was a next man up kind of game.”

Eli Manning had stepped his game up in his first start after the bye week. Manning had been struggling to get anything going in his previous start against the Los Angeles Rams, only posting a 24 of 37 completion rate for 196 yards, no touchdowns and a 78.2 QB Rating. Today Manning had four passing touchdowns and seemed to be in sync with his various receivers in Sunday’s game.

“Everybody knows that you’ve got to be ready,” said Manning. “The ball is going to be spread around. Defenses are going to play different coverages, have certain plays go to one guy or certain guys…So everybody’s got to be ready and guys are stepping up and making good plays, so we’ve got to continue to do that.”

With the offense needing to get into sync, all receivers had to step up their game and show up on the score sheet. The whole offense doesn’t have to revolve around Beckham, everyone needed to step up their game. Roger Lewis Jr. and Sterling Shepard both stepped up their game today, both pulling in touchdown receptions. This trend needs to continue throughout the remainder of the season to help live up to the offense’s potential.

“My playmaking ability from college is still adjusting in the NFL because it is kind of different,” said Giants receiver Roger Lewis, Jr. “I want to be able to be a playmaker…So with me being an undrafted guy, I am going to have to play with a chip on my shoulder and be able to make plays.”

“It was a game of big plays,” said Shepard. “We knew that we were going to have to do that coming in. We knew that they had a physical defense, so we had to do our part to get open.”

The Giants defense continued its hot streak since before the bye week. The defense was able to get to Wentz multiple times during this game. Not only was getting to the quarterback a main key for victory, but also their fourth down defense. The Giants were able to stuff the Eagles on three of four fourth down opportunities.

“No matter what situation that we get in, we just have to play some great defense,” said Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. “Everyone knows that the Giants are based on great defense, so that is what we came here to do. We played great defense and came out with the win.”

“Early in the season, we were put in tough situations early in ballgames, late in ballgames,” said Giants linebacker Jonathan Casillas. “I feel like that gave us some grit and some toughness. We matured. We’re still developing, bonding, and molding together.”

The Giants continue their trend of having all of their victories this season coming down to the wire, keeping all Giants fans on the edge of their seats. Giants’ fans breathed a sigh of relief after the Giants stopped the Eagles rally in the final drive.

“We believe and we execute,” said McAdoo. “We put our foot on the gas and we play aggressive in all three phases of the game at the end of the game, [and] we are going to pull off a win.”

The Giants look to build off the momentum of this important division win next Monday night, as they face the Cincinnati Bengals (3-4-1) at MetLife Stadium.

Team Stats

Total Plays: 61

Total Yards: 302

Penalties: 5-30 yards

Turnovers: 2

First Downs: 16

Player Stats

Eli Manning: 22/36, 257 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT, 96.6 QBR.

Paul Perkins: 11 rushes, 32 yards.

Odell Beckham Jr.: 4 receptions, 46 yards, 2 TD’s.

Roger Lewis Jr.: 1 reception, 30 yards, 1 TD

Sterling Shepard: 3 receptions, 50 yards, 1 TD.

Landon Collins: 12 tackles, 6 assists, 1 sack, 1 INT

Andrew Adams: 9 tackles, 1 INT.

Jason Pierre-Paul: 5 tackles, 2 assists, 1 blocked field goal.

Keenan Robinson: 10 tackles, 5 assists.