Game Preview: Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants, December 28, 2014

New York Giants Helmets – © USA TODAY Sports Images

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Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants, December 28, 2014

The 90th season in the history of the New York Football Giants is about to end. After making the playoffs in five of seven seasons (2005-2011), including winning two NFL titles, the Giants have now missed the playoffs three straight seasons and five of the last six seasons. The Giants have have had two losing seasons in a row for the first time since 2003-2004 (Jim Fassel’s last season and Tom Coughlin’s first season).

With the benefit of time, it is easier to see that the overall problem has been the steady decline of overall starting talent and depth. Injuries have been a factor but so has questionable drafting and free agent moves. The proof is in the pudding. How many players on the current roster would you rank among the best in the NFL? How many are Pro Bowlers?

2014 clearly was not a success. There were some positives, the most important being the reconstruction of QB Eli Manning (who statistically has had one of his best seasons after playing his worst) and the emergence of WR Odell Beckham (perhaps the best player to come out of the 2014 NFL Draft). The tight ends played better than feared. And as could be expected, the offense did improve as players became more comfortable with Ben McAdoo’s system.

But minus Geoff Schwartz and no viable depth, the offensive line continued to remain a terrible liability. The team lost David Wilson for good, Rashad Jennings could not stay healthy, and Andre Williams struggled. The Giants averaged less than four yards per rushing attempt. Victor Cruz suffered a season-ending and potential career-altering knee injury. Rueben Randle did not develop as hoped.

Defensively, for all intents and purposes, the Giants lost Jon Beason during the OTAs. It was anticipated that the Giants’ secondary would be one of the best in team history and carry the defense, but the Giants lost Prince Amukamara, Walter Thurmond, Trumaine McBride, and Cooper Taylor to injury, and Will Hill to drugs. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was never healthy. Antrel Rolle regressed and the other safeties weren’t very good. Linebacker play was at best mediocre. While Jason Pierre-Paul did play better than the previous two years, he didn’t really make a big impact until it was too late. Mathias Kiwanuka didn’t get the job done. Cullen Jenkins was hurt. Johnathan Hankins played above expectations, but Damontre Moore played below them.

By all indications, Tom Coughlin and the bulk of his coaching staff will return in 2015. The larger question is the talent arrow now pointing up or down with this team? The Giants are getting a lot of positive contributions from young players such as Beckham, Richburg, Williams, Donnell, Pugh, Hankins, Wynn, and Kennard. Hopefully guys like Cruz, Amukamara, Ayers, and Schwartz come off season-ending injuries and return to form. But will JPP and Thurmond be back? What about Rolle? Can the Giants adequately address talent-deficiency issues on the offensive line, tight end, linebacker, and safety? There are still some significant questions about the overall state of the defensive line and wide receiving corps too. In a nutshell, the Giants need more impact players…more difference makers.

FOUR DOWNS:

First Down
Is this Perry Fewell’s last stand?
There has been much speculation that Perry Fewell’s job is in jeopardy. His defense is 28th in the NFL. Injuries undoubtedly have been a factor, but Fewell’s defenses have been cellar-dwellers for much of his tenure in New York. While the defense has improved its play in the last month, that success has come against some of the NFL’s worst offenses. On Sunday, even with Mark Sanchez at quarterback, the Giants will face one of the better offenses and an offense that Perry Fewell has struggled to counter. Perhaps the decision on whether to retain or fire Fewell has already been made. If not, this game may ultimately decide his fate.

Second Down
Can the Giants get out of this game injury free?
Given the fact that this game will be played on December 28, serious injuries suffered in this game could impact a player’s availability in 2015. The last thing the Giants need is another injury to a player important for their future.

Third Down
Can the Giants get over their mental block with the Eagles?
For some reason, in recent years, the Giants have more problems with the Eagles than they do with any other team. The Eagles are a decent team but they should not be giving the Giants as much problems as they have in recent years, including earlier this year when the Eagles absolutely dominated them. To be blunt, there is not a huge talent differential between these two teams. It’s time for New York to man up and take care of business.

Fourth Down
Can Eli Manning and Odell Beckham end the season on high statistical notes?
This game is basically meaningless other than draft position and whether or not the narrative heading into the offseason will be more positive or negative. And football is supposed to be a team sport and not about individual accomplishments. That said, it would be nice for Eli Manning and Odell Beckham to continue to add to their positive overall individual statistical accomplishments. Manning is having one of his best overall seasons ever and it would be nice to further accentuate a very solid TD-to-INT ratio (29-to-13). He is two TDs short of his career high. And his 13 interceptions are his second-lowest ever since he became a full time starter. He’s less than 20 yards from his fourth 4,000-yard season. Odell Beckham? He’s breaking records left and right every time he plays.

BREAKING DOWN PHILADELPHIA:

OFFENSE
Strength?
The Eagles are 5th in offense in terms of yards gained and 3rd in terms of points scored (over 29 per game). Their fast-break offense enables them to run on average 70 offensive snaps per game which is very high. The Eagles also tend to do very well early in games,  having scored 85 points on their first and second drives.

Partly due to injuries, the offensive line has had its up and downs this year. But the offensive line still has a number of talented players, especially on the left side with LT Jason Peters and LG Evan Mathis. The Eagles have a lot of talent at the skill positions including RB LeSean McCoy (149 rushing yards against the Giants in October), RB Darren Sproles, WR Jeremy Maclin (1,269 yards and 10 touchdowns), WR Riley Cooper, WR Jordan Matthews (7 touchdowns), TE Brent Celek, and TE Zach Ertz (coming off a 15-catch game). McCoy and Sproles can hurt you both running the ball and catching it, and present match-up problems for linebackers in coverage.

Weakness?
The Eagles turn the football over a lot, including both interceptions (20) and lost fumbles (15). Mark Sanchez has been inconsistent at quarterback, and is more at ease with the short- to intermediate-throw than the long ball.

DEFENSE
Strength?
The Eagles are ranked 25th in defense (three spots higher than the Giants). Earlier in the season, turnovers largely covered up bad play. That said, back in October, this 3-4 Eagles defense dominated the Giants at the line of scrimmage and shut out New York. Philadelphia can rush the passer as they are second in the NFL with 49 sacks. RDE Fletcher Cox is very good. Reserve pass rushing specialist DE Vinny Curry has nine sacks. LOLB Connor Barwin has 14.5 sacks and gave RT Justin Pugh fits in the last game. ROLB Trent Cole (6.5 sacks) has a history of playing well against New York. Reserve Brandon Graham can play a number of positions and also rush the passer.

Weakness?
The Eagles secondary isn’t very good. They give up a lot of yards and a lot of big plays. They have given up 64 plays of 20 yards or more, the highest in the NFL. The Eagles are also 23rd in scoring defense, allowing almost 25 points per game (which makes the shutout against the Giants even more disconcerting).

SPECIAL TEAMS
The Eagles have scored six touchdowns on special teams: two on punt returns, two on kickoff returns, and two on blocked punts. Darren Sproles is very dangerous on punt returns as is Josh Huff on kickoff returns.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Odell Beckham
Not to sound like a broken record, but he’s THE reason to watch this game. Can he break 100 yards again?

The Offensive Line
If they can pass protect, the Giants can score a lot of points against this defense.

FROM THE COACHES’ MOUTHS:

Tom Coughlin – “Probably the best thing we have done is take care of the football. Offensively, the ball has not been turned over in two weeks, so I am hoping we can do that again.”

Chip Kelly – “(On Odell Beckham) They are moving him around more. Obviously, you have to know where he is at all times. They seem like they are putting him in more positions…In my opinion, I thought he was the best in the draft, I think he is showing people that.”

FINAL WORD:

The Eagles really are a middle-of-the-pack team that was thriving off of turnovers and big plays on special teams earlier in the season. But for some reason, they seem to have the Giants’ number. Offensively, if the Giants can protect Eli Manning, New York can score a lot of points on this defense. Can the offensive line play two strong games in a row against an opponent who rushes the passer so well?

Defensively, the Eagles are a match-up problem for the Giants. Devon Kennard (toe) will not play and the Giants will be forced to play a three defensive back package most of the game with the slow Jameel McClain and Mark Herzlich at linebacker. The Eagles should be able to run and pass against that defense unless Mark Sanchez plays like crap and/or the defensive line dominates. The Giants simply are not athletic (or good enough) at linebacker an safety to cover these backs and tight ends.

The Giants defense was pretty bad against a mediocre Rams offense last week, and it could have been much worse had not the quarterback missed wide open targets. I don’t see the defense playing very hard to save Perry Fewell’s job, and I wonder if this game will mark the last of Tom Quinn too – especially if the special teams gives up a score.

Eagles 38 – Giants 24.