It just wasn’t meant to be for the NY Giants on Saturday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. Leading up to the Divisional Round showdown with the Birds, the Giants had a lot of confidence from their Wild Card Round win over the Minnesota Vikings, but Philly dominated on both sides of the ball.
With no answer for Jalen Hurts and Co., the Giants were down 28-0 at halftime and there was no miracle in the final 30 minutes of action, with the Eagles recording a 38-7 victory. While this loss is tough to swallow, it doesn’t take away from the brilliant campaign the G-Men were able to record. Having said that, this was a frustrating defeat, and we take a look at four things that stood out to us following the final whistle.
4. The Eagles showcased they’re the better team
As much as we hate to admit it, the Eagles are the better team right now. Giants fans were riding high before kickoff on Saturday, still feeling great from the upset win over the Vikings. However, Philly reminded everyone why they’re the NFC’s No. 1 seed, as they wasted no time in turning heads against Big Blue.
Jalen Hurts is still dealing with his bum shoulder, but goodness, he looked fantastic in this one. On the first two drives of the game, Hurts was brilliant, going a perfect 7-for-7 for 89 yards and two touchdowns. The Giants secondary looked lost early on and that’s just a testament to the strong play of the Philly QB. Hurts finished with 152 yards passing and his two TDs, while he added another score on the ground.
Defensively, the Eagles were prepared for Daniel Jones and the rest of the Giants offense. Barkley was non-existent in the first 30 minutes of action, which no one wanted to see. The James Bradberry interception of Jones was back-breaking, as it was Jones’ first INT since Christmas Eve. Everything that could have gone wrong for the Giants in the first half – well, it did. You’ve got to give credit to the Eagles for that. They were ready from the opening kick and NY Wasn’t.
3. Giants offensive line looked terrible vs. the Eagles
One of our biggest takeaways from the action was how poorly the NY offensive line performed. Seriously, what in the world happened to these guys? After doing such a fantastic job against Minnesota, the script was flipped against Philadelphia. Outside of Andrew Thomas, the hosses couldn’t block and had Danny Dimes running for his life far too much.
We hate to single someone out, but Evan Neal, come on man. The No. 7 overall pick had another rough go of things, with the Philly pass-rushers taking his lunch money throughout the action. Neal was so bad… let’s just say he really isn’t going to want to search his name on Twitter once he gets back home. Countless NY fans are sick of him disappointing, with a lot of angry supporters out there.
Neal is still young, but he sure looked like a rookie against the Eagles. As we’ve said before, when Neal is on, he is so much fun to watch. When he struggles, though, his play is infuriating and it puts extra pressure on Jones to try and get the ball away quickly. The entire Philly pass-rush was on point. The same can’t be said for the Giants offensive line.
2. Some magic lost for Daniel Jones
In the win over Minnesota, Jones tossed for 301 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 78 more on the ground. While no one expected him to flirt with 400 yards vs. the Eagles, no one thought Jones and the offense would struggle as much as they did on Saturday night at Lincoln Financial Field.
The big issue for Jones here was that the offensive line looked like garbage. Still, though, Jones looked nervous at times and his timing was off with his receivers. Wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins, who posted more than 100 yards against the Vikings and a score, was barely targeted in the loss to the Eagles. Hodgins has been a stud, but his name was rarely called by the announcers.
The Jones interception courtesy of Bradberry was rough to see, but a lot of folks thought Jones would be able to bounce back from it. The opposite was the case, as he and the NY offense couldn’t get into any kind of a rhythm the rest of the way.
On the night, Jones tossed for 135 yards, one interception and no scores. For the rushing game, Jones was held to 24 yards. Those stats just won’t cut it against Philadelphia on the road.
1. The future is bright for Brian Daboll and the Giants
We know that it’s tough to think about the future right now after this infuriating loss to the Eagles, but the defeat doesn’t take away from the magical ride Brian Daboll and Co. provided everyone this season. Before Week 1 arrived, who in their right mind expected the Giants to get to the Divisional Round, and post an upset win in the Wild Card? No one.
So many experts predicted the Giants to win 4-5 games this year, and they proved millions of people wrong. Daboll is in his first year as a head coach and he completely exceeded expectations. Jones had countless fans calling for him to get benched ahead of the campaign, and now those same people are ready for Joe Schoen to give him a multi-year extension.
Barkley wants to come back too, and he just had an unreal year for this team. Dexter Lawrence and Andrew Thomas are All-Pro players, and there’s loads of addtional young talent as well. With more than $50 million in cap space, Schoen will be aggressive in free agency.
Then in the draft, the hope is a stud wideout (maybe Jordan Addison) will be picked by NY. There’s so much to build off of from this season. The right guys are in charge. Big Blue will come back stronger in ’23.
Watch James Bradberry troll the NY Giants sideline after Daniel Jones interception
Philadelphia Eagles cornerback James Bradberry intercepted a Daniel Jones pass and then he didn't hesitate in trolling the Giants sideline.