Patrick Causey, on Twitter @InsdeTheHuddle
The Philadelphia Eagles square off against the New York Giants in a Monday Night Football matchup that puts first place in the NFC East on the line.
As with the last two weeks, this represents a must win game for the Birds. A win will get the Birds to .500 for the first time all year ahead of next week's showdown with the undefeated Carolina Panthers.
But a loss would knock the Eagles down to 2-4, and more importantly, leave them with an 0-3 record in the division. The Eagles would place themselves in an impossible position starting out 0-3, with two of those loses happening at home. Simply put, the Eagles must win this game.
When the Eagles are on Offense
The Eagles come into the game winning two of there last three contests and are finally starting to show a semblance of consistency on offense. It starts up front with the Eagles, as their offensive line looks to build off their good performance against the lowly Saints. This will be the second week in a row that the Eagles have rolled out the same starting five on the offensive line: Jason Peters, Allen Barbre, Jason Kelce, Matt Tobin, and Lane Johnson. Look to see more consistency from them in both run and pass protection.
But the Eagles will likely have a hard time getting the run game going tonight. The Giants have allowed the fewest total rushing yards this season and allow the second fewest yards per attempt (3.4) Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who used to coach with the Eagles, has the Giants no name defensive line playing extremely well against the run.
However, Sam Bradford and company should have success against the Giants pass defense. The Giants are tied for dead last in the NFL in sacks and rank 20th in terms of total passing yards allowed on the year. To make matters worse, the Giants are without starting cornerback Prince Amukamara, who will be sidelined for the next two to four weeks with a pectoral muscle injury.
With Nelson Agholor out of the game, expect to see more Josh Huff this week, who finally had the breakout game we have all been waiting for last week, catching four passes for 78 yards and a touchdown. The Giants are especially suspect over the middle, so look for Jordan Matthews and Zach Ertz to step up big in the passing game. I would not at all be surprised if they lead the Eagles in receiving and each come up with a touchdown.
When the Eagles are on Defense
Giants quarterback Eli Manning is playing some of the best football in his career; he has completed 66.5% of his passes for 1,417 yards, 10 touchdowns, two interceptions and a 100.2 quarterback rating. Manning has developed an impressive chemistry with second-year wideout Odell Beckham, Jr., who is playing tonight despite having a hamstring injury which limited him in practice all week. Expect Manning to target Beckham early and often, so the Eagles $60 million cornerback Byron Maxwell, who has improved over the last two weeks, will need to come up with his best game yet.
However, the Giants should struggle to run the ball against the Eagles, who have allowed the seventh fewest amount of rushing yards in the league. That does not bode well for the Giants, who actually have a worse ground attack than the Eagles this year: averaging only 3.6 yards per carry (compared to 3.8 for the Birds), and gaining only 456 yards on the ground (compared to 466 for the Birds).
In other words, this has the makings of a pass happy shoot out between two teams that have struggled to run the ball effectively all year.
Keys to the Game
The Eagles will have a good chance to win this game if Bradford plays consistently for the entire game and the Eagles win the turnover battle.
In the first half, Bradford has completed 54 of 96 passes (56%), with two touchdowns, three interceptions, and a quarterback rating of 65.6. But in the second half, Bradford has completed 66 of 94 passes (70.2%) with six touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 102.0. The Eagles need Bradford to turn in a complete game if they are going to have any chance of keeping up with Eli and company.
The turnover battle pits a team that does a good job of protecting the ball verse a team that does a good job of creating turnovers. The Eagles and Giants are both in the top 10 in turnover differential on the year, with the Eagles ranking 8th overall compared to the Giants ranking 6th. But the Eagles defense has caused almost twice as many turnovers as the Giants (13 to 7), while the Giants have done a much better job protecting the football on offense (with three turnovers compared to the Eagles 10).
One way for the Eagles to force turnovers will be for Fletcher Cox and the rest of the Eagles defensive line to consistently generate pressure against Manning. Manning has shown the tendency to turn the ball over when under pressure. If Cox can penetrate and cause havoc, then Eagles opportunistic defense (hello, Walter Thurmond) should be able to force a few Manning interceptions.
Philadelphia Eagles
Out
- WR Nelson Agholor (ankle)
- LB Kiko Alonso (knee)
- LB Mychal Kendricks (hamstring)
- DE Brandon Bair (groin)
Questionable
- RB Ryan Mathews
New York Giants
Out
- CB Prince Amukamara (pectoral)
- WR Victor Cruz (calf)
- LB Devon Kennard (hamstring)
Questionable
- WR Odell Beckham Jr. (hamstring)
- CB Trumaine McBride (groin)
- LB Jon Beason (concussion)
- DE Robert Ayers (hamstring)
- LB Jonathan Casillas (calf)
Probable
- WR Rueben Randle (hamstring)
- OG Justin Pugh (ankle)
- DE George Selvie (calf)
Where to Watch
TV: ESPN (Mike Tirico, JOn Gruden, Lisa Salters)
Radio: 94 WIP (Merrill Reese, Mike Quick, Howard Eskin)
