Eagles Stock Market: The road to the Super Bowl runs through South Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — The players and coaches aren’t great, but the organizations are, and the New York Giants decided to go to the Eagles before the game, content with an unlikely postseason berth and a trip to Minnesota in the wild-card round.
The Giant’s inactives included quarterback Daniel Jones, their top offensive player Saqupn Barkley and top offensive lineman in Andrew Thomas. New York’s biggest defenders like Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams and Julian Love also had the night off.
What’s more, the best players who had to dress for the Giants barely played, giving it a glorified scrimmage vibe.
That heralded the outcome, a 22-16 victory for Philadelphia, which ultimately clinched the NFC East title and the No. 1 seed in the conference for the Eagles, who can sit back and wait for disaster after the wild-card round.
Jalen Hurts’ return after missing two games with a sprained SC joint in his throwing shoulder was professional but not impressive with too many Jake Elliott field goals instead of touchdowns.
The defense was very good for most of the game, but it’s hard to take any of that with the limited Davis Webb, the third lofted member of the practice squad, fighting mightily for the Giants.
From that standpoint, it’s a little disappointing that the Eagles had to keep their starters for the entire game, but they seemed to emerge without serious injuries.
THE BULLS
TCOB – It was ugly, but the Eagles methodically went about business and rarely let Webb breathe or give the Giants’ backups any hope of a miracle. Philadelphia has outscored NYG 69-38 in two wins this season.
haason reddick – Reddick didn’t add to his impressive 16-sack total, but he was on Webb early in the game scaring the inexperienced backup. Every time Webb watched No. 7 go through his O-Line, he looked like a teenager running from the monster in a slasher movie.
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson – CJ returned to the lineup after missing five games with a lacerated kidney and the Eagles dumped him in the bottom of the pool, starting at his typical safety spot and then moving him to nickel corner when they needed an extra defensive back. That usage probably doesn’t bode well for Avonte Maddox, at least early in the playoffs.
jake eliott – The Eagles kicker was 5-for-5 on the day, including two for 50-plus. That comes after a 56-yard pass last week against New Orleans.
boston scott – It’s the world’s easiest annual prop bet: Boston Scott’s TD vs. the Giants. This time he came early, with an eight-yard run in the first quarter. Scott now has 17 career TDs from him, 10 of them against NYG.
records – It took AJ Brown an entire offensive play to break Mike Quick’s single-season franchise record for receiving yards. The new standard is 1,496. DeVonta Smith’s single-season receptions record is 95 and the Eagles won 14 games for the first time. The team fell short of the 1984 Chicago Bears’ sack record, finishing two shy of tying the mark with 70.
THE BEARS
bad hands – The Eagles missed at least three interception opportunities, plays that would have turned into the blowout everyone wanted. Marcus Epps went first, mishandling a gift and was followed by TJ Edwards blowing an opportunity that’s a little more forgivable considering he’s a linebacker. Darius Slay then let a potential pick-six slip through his hands in the third quarter.
steamroller – The Giants’ lone touchdown came on a QB tie in which Webb tackled Reed Blankenship in the end zone Tim Tebow-style. The problem with Webb is that he also shoots like Tebow and left the ensuing 2-point conversion short, resulting in an easy pass defense by CGJ. Blankenship made up for it with a game-sealing onside kick recovery.
STAGNED STOCKS
jalen hurts – Hurts was solid on his return but clearly more conscious of protecting his shoulder. That limited Hurts’ typical experience and explosiveness on offense, but the final game is Philly finishing 14-1 with Hurts as the starting QB and now has one more week to get their outfield leader as healthy as possible for the season. divisional round. of the playoffs.
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com’s Eagles Today and is an NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can hear John, along with legendary sports talk host Jody McDonald, every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365’, streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show “Football 24/7” and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen