You Know It’s Going To Be a Long Season When the Eagles Lose to the Giants
Over the years there have been good Eagles seasons and bad Eagles seasons, that’s inevitable. But the one constant through those years is that most of the times the Eagles beat the Giants. Whether it’s in a game where they dominate and look like their best selves against New York, or make a crazy comeback with the odds against them, the Eagles give their fans a moment of joy before continuing into the unknown.
When the Eagles lose to the Giants however it usually means one thing: Either the Giants are really good, or the Birds are really bad. This season, the Giants are certainly bad. Even though they’ve improved and took leads in games recently, they still find ridiculous ways to blow them, and can only defeat Washington.
This time however, New York held onto a lead and didn’t blow it like their previous matchup with the Eagles on Thursday Night Football. The Giants have gone from being in the Trevor Lawrence conversation to being in a good position in the NFC East. Danny Dimes didn’t trip nor turn the ball over in what is now the biggest win of his career and maybe the biggest Giants since their 2016 playoff season. And for every big play the Eagles made, they literally stumbled.
A lot of numbers go into every NFL game, but for this one the stat that stands out is the Eagles going 0-9 on third down conversions. Carson Wentz continues to deviate from his prime self and the play-calling continues to be less-and-less inspired. Not to mention the hair-pulling analytics of going for a 2-point conversion where an extra-point would cut the deficit to a field goal. Doug Pederson maybe an Andy Reid disciple, but he did not inherit his genius in games after a Bye week because Pederson has won only one regular season game following a Bye. And for every big play Jim Schwartz’s defense made, they gave up a big play against an offense coached by Jason Garrett.
Everyone knew the Eagles schedule after the Bye was going to be hard. As the defending NFC East Champions with a 9-7 record they have the burden of taking on the other first place NFC teams along with teams from the loaded NFC West. This means that in order for the Eagles to win their crappy division, they can’t afford to lose anymore NFC East games after blowing Week 1 against Washington. And now, they did it again and let the Giants back in the division race. Before getting the rest of their division games in Week 16 and 17, they have to go through a gauntlet of tough opponents and it’s honestly hard to find a win in any of them.
The Browns are actually pretty good this season, the Birds haven’t beat the Seahawks since 2008(!), the Packers are the Packers, the Saints are the Saints, and Larry Fitzgerald and Kyler Murray are on the Cardinals. It will take a December to Remember by the Birds akin to the previous three seasons in order to get the 5-7 wins required to win the putrid NFC East and host a playoff game.
Whether they come through and make the playoffs or not, it’s going to be a long 2nd half of the 2020 season. If they don’t make it then what remains of the core from the glorious and sadly distant 2017 team maybe on thinner and thinner ice heading into 2021.
This statement may not be cool to say anymore but for the Eagles “Winter is Coming…”