The final week of the Philadelphia Eagles season has come and it's disappointing to say that they will, once again, be playing for the sole purpose of a draft position.
This year was supposed to be a step above the rest but Chip Kelly's methods were too much to handle for Philly. Kelly was given complete authority to make whatever changes he needed to transform the Eagles into a Super Bowl caliber team, however, all the power he was granted ultimately lead to his demise.
Philadelphia will square off with their division rivals, the New York Giants, at the Meadowlands this Sunday. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.
Odell Beckham Jr. is coming off of a one-game suspension, due to his flagrant hit to one of this year's best defensive backs, Josh Norman. After being shut-down by Norman for almost the entire game, Beckham was unable to keep his cool and resorted to blind-siding his defended. Luckily, Norman was unfazed by the hit, otherwise this would have been a completely different story.
Earlier in the year when the two teams faced each other, Philadelphia was able to keep an injured Beckham in check and the defeat the Giants, 27-7. Although New York seems to have more of a sound offense than the Eagles this year, it was clearly seen that Eli Manning could not handle the pressure amongst the Philadelphia fan base.
As they head to New York for their season finale, the Eagles look to play for a better draft position and the opportunity to play in London, England against the St. Louis Rams next season. The only catch is that they would have to lose this game in order to benefit from both.
One of the more shocking things that happened to Philadelphia this season was last week's firing of head coach Chip Kelly. The Eagles will be without Kelly for the first time in three seasons and will be led by interim head coach Pat Shurmur.
After all of Kelly's "blockbuster" moves to send this team above and beyond, the season could not have gone anymore wrong than this year. This was the second year in a row that Kelly missed a playoff run and Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie was not going to wait any longer to rid Philadelphia of this disaster project.
As a team in shambles heads into unfamiliar territory, there isn't much to hope for this week. This season has been a roller coaster, to say the least, and the city of Philadelphia is left with one final meaningless game.
Game Notes
- Jordan Matthews looks to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards for the first time in his career. He needs 57 yards to do so.
- The Eagles will be playing without Byron Maxwell for the second game in a row.
- The Eagles have lost three out of four of the last meetings with the Giants when playing away from home.
Injury Report
Eagles
Out
- WR Seyi Ajirotutu (Ankle)
- DT Bennie Logan (Calf)
- CB Byron Maxwell (Shoulder)
Probable
- K Caleb Sturgis (Right Hamstring)
- OT Dennis Kelly (Ankle)
Questionable
- CB Jaylen Watkins (Shin)
Giants
Out
- LS Danny Aiken (Thumb)
- FS Craig Dahl (Concussion)
- T Marshall Newhouse (Concussion)
- S Cooper Taylor (Concussion)
- LB JT Thomas (Ankle)
Questionable
- WR Dwayne Harris (Back/Shoulder)
- DE Jason Pierre-Paul (Ankle)
TV: FOX (Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston)
Radio: 94 WIP (Merrill Reese, Mike Quick, Howard Eskin)
