Giants vs Eagles: More Than Just a Game.
Oct 27, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin (right) and Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly (left) shake hands after the second half at Lincoln Financial Field. The Giants won the game 15-7. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
For any New York Giants fan, playing a division rival carries more weight than most division rivalries in the NFL. The reason for that is that for years the NFC East has been widely regarded as the most open and competitive division. Part of that reason is that all four teams as well as their fan bases, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys, and Redskins, genuinely despise each other.
The NFC East is usually the hardest division in the league to predict and winning that division has become critical to making the playoffs because of how difficult the rest of the NFC conference has become. So with each of these four teams with deep-rooted history that goes back several decades playing each other twice a season, you can bet that no matter what week it is, any NFC East rivalry game will be filled with physicality and emotion. If you ask any Giants fan, the most heated and intense games are the Giants vs Eagles games.
The rivalry between the Giants and the Eagles can be attributed to the lager sports rivalry between New York and Philadelphia. The rivalry is so intense due two the close geographical placement of these two cities being a mere two-hour drive away from each other.
No matter the sport, New York and Philadelphia have often squared off in big games with New York winning most of the time, which has added more fuel to this already heated rivalry. When it comes to football, the Giants-Eagles rivalry has been rated by the NFL Network as the number one rivalry of all time and has also been ranked by Sports Illustrated as the number four ranked NFL rivalry. These two teams have met 164 times since 1933, with Big Blue leading the all time series at 85-77-2. In those games these two teams have met four times in the playoffs, with the all time record being split 2-2 with the Eagles winning the last matchup in 2009.
Many Giants fans would also say that the main reason this rivalry is so intense is because of the Giants’ four Super Bowl victories in five appearances while the Eagles have yet to take home a Lombardi trophy despite playing in two Super Bowls. Many Giants fans that Philadelphia fans in general, no matter the sport, have so much hatred for New York teams due to New York’s storied championship history while Philadelphia has had very little championship success despite having many years of having great teams that had a ton of potential.
“This game is more than just the game, it will be a physical and emotional war between two hated rivals with deep-rooted history.” – “Anthony Valerio”
In terms of football, Eagles fans have always labeled Giants fans as cocky and arrogant fans who would go so far as to questioning the legitimacy of Philadelphia being a real sports town due to their lack of championship hardware. Giants fans think Eagles fans are the most arrogant fans in all of football because they seek to destroy the Giants year after year in hopes of finally getting that Lombardi that they have lusted for over seventy years. What makes Eagles fans even more hateful towards the Giants and their fans is because while they have seen nothing but disappointment year after year wondering when it will be their turn to gloat while their already hated rivals in New York have won four Super Bowls, two of which have come in the last seven years.
There have been many memorable moments in this storied rivalry that is one of the most well-known rivalries in all of sports. Moments like The Miracle in The Meadowlands on November 8th, 1978 that saw the infamous Giants fumble on the last play of the game that could have been easily sealed by a kneeldown, saw Eagles cornerback Herman Edwards scoop the fumble and score the winning touchdown. Although that moment brought great joy to Eagles fans to stuck it to their hated rivals, it brought on the Bill Parcells and Phil Simms era in New York that brought the Giants their first two Super Bowl victories in 1986 and 1990.
The sequel to that moment came on December 19th, 2010 when the Giants blew a 31-10 lead with 7:38 left in the game that would decide the division. The game ended when Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson returned a punt from Giants punter Matt Dodge for the game winning touchdown which was the first walk off punt return in NFL history and knocked the Giants out of the playoffs despite being tied with the Eagles at 10-6 in a moment that was called The Miracle in The Meadowlands II. The pain of that crushing defeat was eased for Giants fans when the defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 46 the following year which further enraged Eagles fans who were already tired of seeing Big Blue raise the Lombardi trophy despite seemingly getting the best of them several times.
Another memorable moment in this rivalry was the meeting between these two foes in the 2006 playoffs that saw the Giants rally from down 20 points to tie the game, but the rally was ended when the Eagles pulled off the game winning field goal in the game’s final seconds resulting a 23-20 Eagles victory. The gloating didn’t last long for Philadelphia when the Giants won their third Super Bowl the following year in 2007 in what has become known as one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history when Big Blue defeated the mighty 18-0 New England Patriots.
This week the Giants in Eagles meet in Philadelphia in their first of two scheduled matchups of the 2014 season. Both teams come in looking to prove their legitimacy as possible championship contenders. The Eagles now sit atop of the NFC East at 4-1 but the Giants are on a hot streak, winning their last three games to bring their record to 3-2. A win for Big Blue will be extremely satisfying for the team and for Giants fans because it puts the Giants in a tie for first place in the division with another division matchup coming next week versus the Dallas Cowboys.
It also gives the Giants an opportunity to embarrass the Eagles in their own house which will surely be a hostile environment. For the Eagles, it’s another chance to stick it to their hated rivals and show that they are the superior team that will put an end to the Giants current surge, which will bring endless joy to Eagles fans. It also gives Philly a chance to take control of a division that is once again wide open for any team to take.
This game is more than just the game, it will be a physical and emotional war between two hated rivals with deep-rooted history. It is an early battle for control of the division that could have serious playoff implications at the end of the year when these two teams battle in the last week of the season at MetLife which is a game many say could possibly decide the division depending on Dallas’ performance. This Sunday night will be a must watch game for any football fan because it is rare when the game is played with so much passion between two teams that absolutely despise each other when the New York Giants battle the Philadelphia Eagles once again.