This isn't the New York Giants of the past couple of years. It's a new team, led by head coach John Harbaugh, that knows how to win games. Entering Week 9, the Giants were 4-2-1 on the season, good enough for first place in the NFC East. Three of those four wins went down to the wire. Week 9 against the Philadelphia Eagles was no different.
On Sunday, the Giants defeated the Philadelphia Eagles to improve to 5-2-1 on the year. The thing is, this was an Eagles team that was hammered with injuries across the roster. On paper, this should have been a game in which the Giants coasted to victory with relative ease.
Instead, the Giants narrowly won 19-11, where they had to hold off a comeback attempt by the Eagles in the final seconds of regulation. The Giants clinched the victory after a sack on Eagles quarterback Joe Milton, who attempted a Hail Mary pass to try and force overtime.
Look, a win is a win. But sometimes, a Giants fan wants to watch a dominant victory against a team that entered this week on a six-game losing streak.
Giants should be winning games they're favored in more easily
After the game, Giants defensive lineman Abdul Carter talked about the win, but mentioned that this should be a type of game they win by double digits, rather than just eight points.
"I feel like the game was closer than it should have been, I feel like we could have beaten them by at least 20 points," said Carter, h/t SNY. "We're going to keep finding ways to get better. We're going to get better Thursday night."
It's hard to deny that. The Giants were supposed to be the heavy favorites entering this game. This was an Eagles team that doesn't have starting quarterback Jalen Hurts for the rest of the season. Wide receiver DeVonta Smith was also sidelined due to a hamstring injury. Also, the Eagles' vaunted offensive line has entered a rebuild of sorts, and they are no longer the dominant force they once were. Not to mention, the Eagles were on a new starting quarterback in Milton after benching Tanner McKee.
On the Giants side, the running game was non-existent entering the game with Cam Skattebo ruled out due to a hamstring injury he suffered late in the team's win over the Houston Texans. That meant Devin Singletary had to get the bulk of the carries, where he took 21 of them, but for a gain of just 31 yards
Also, with the lack of a running game, that allowed the Eagles' pass rush to blitz J.J. McCarthy, who took five sacks and a nasty hit to the hip that briefly removed him from the game. So, it was hard for the offense to get anything going.
Luckily for them, the Giants had other avenues to pick up the win in Philadelphia. Such as the pass rush, who logged seven sacks in the game. Three of those sacks came from rookie Arvell Reese, who had an insane performance that truly solidified himself as the favorite to win the Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Not to mention, quarterback Jameis Winston entered in relief of an injured McCarthy, and led the team on a touchdown drive to put the Giants up 13-8.
Giants have track record of winning games close this season
The Giants' fifth win of the season follows a theme for this season, and it's that they are able to win games down to the wire. But it's also a theme that they sometimes play down to their opponent's level.
Week 1 was different, as it set the tone ofr the Harbaugh era with a 28-20 dominant win over the Dallas Cowboys. The final score did not tell the story, as the Giants played "bully ball." But after that, the Giants struggled against some teams they should have blown out.
There was Week 3 against a winless Tennessee Titans team. The Giants defense clinched the narrow 12-7 win after safety Jevon Holland hauled in an interception in the red zone. The following week, they faced an Arizona Cardinals team that was supposed to be a contender for the first overall pick in the draft. Yet, they had to get the win on a walk-off pick six from cornerback Deonte Banks. Next up was having to go to overtime to have a chance to defeat the Houston Texans. They managed after back-to-back huge runs by Skattebo and Singletary, the latter of which was for a game-winning touchdown.
Now we have the win over the Eagles, in which they had to rely on the defense to put a halt to a potential game-tying drive in the final two minutes of regulation. Look, a win is a win, but for once, fans would like to see a dominant showing on the way to a victory. Such as this week, where the Green Bay Packers defeated the New England Patriots 45-24.
Maybe, the Giants can have that dominant victory on Thursday night where they take on a Washington Commanders team that still hasn't learned how to close out games. Hopefully, it doesn't result in another tie like they did back in Week 5.
Add us as a preferred source on Google