Giants eager for rematch with Eagles

Dec 14, 2017 - 12:39 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- For the New York Giants, their Week 3 road game against the Philadelphia Eagles will probably be viewed as the turning point in what has been a miserable season.

The game, remember, saw the two teams battle back and forth for the lead right down to the game's final four minutes.

With the Giants having taken a 24-21 lead with 3:08 to go on an Aldrick Rosas 41-yard field goal, the Eagles, in a span of the game's final 51 seconds, snatched the victory away from their NFC East foes thanks to two field goals by kicker Josh Elliott, including the game-winning 61-yarder.

That win marked the first of nine straight for the Eagles while the Giants, who will host the top-seeded team in the NFC Sunday at MetLife Stadium, have descended into a two-win season that has seen a host of injuries wreck the original 53-man roster, a one-game benching of quarterback Eli Manning that snapped his streak of 210 consecutive starts, and the firings of head coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese.

But now that the playoff picture has cleared up somewhat, the Giants are looking at the fact that they were able to stand toe-to-toe with the Eagles for most of that game as a positive.

"Definitely, definitely," running back Orleans Darkwa said. "With the talented group that they have, they're at the top of the NFC, so for it to go down to a 61-yard field goal, it shows that we can compete with them, we can compete with the best. So, we've just got to go out there and play well in all three phases -- offense, defense and special teams -- and I think we can come out with a win."

That might be easier said than done. Even though the Eagles have lost quarterback Carson Wentz for the season with a torn ACL, the Giants don't view the Eagles as any less dangerous with Nick Foles at the offense's controls.

"I don't know if it's a break," linebacker Devon Kennard said. "Nick Foles, he's a great quarterback as well and he's done a lot of great things in this league and I think he's definitely capable."

Kennard noted that the change in quarterback will probably affect very little in the overall scheme of things.

"They've had a lot of success this year, so I don't imagine they're going to change a whole lot of things up scheme-wise," he said. "They might tweak a few things here or there, cater it to their quarterback. But, we're expecting them to come out and do what they do best and what they've been doing all year."

From an offensive perspective, the Eagles are the second-best rushing offense in the league, averaging just 143.0 yards per game behind league leader Jacksonville (149.9/game). They also have the league's best scoring offense (31.5 points/game) and the third-most productive offense, averaging 390.5 yards per game.

"They operate offensively like clockwork," interim head coach Steve Spagnuolo said. "I mean, they've got weapons on the outside. The tight ends are, you know, they got enough of them to worry about obviously and add in another running back to a group of running backs that are really good and it's running back by committee. You got to be aware of which running back is in the game. It changes how they attack you running the football a little bit differently."

Spagnuolo also had praise for Eagles head coach Doug Pederson's system, which he believes won't miss a beat even without Wentz in the lineup.

"The system that Doug runs down there is taxing on you defensively from a standpoint of you have to stop the run so everybody gets heavy on their toes, and yet they got a really good play-action pass game," said Spagnuolo.

"I read somewhere where they weren't connecting on a lot of those shots that they took, but I see a lot of them they do connect on. Those are the ones that we're concerned with."

That and the addition of running back Jay Ajayi, acquired in a trade with the Dolphins.

"He's an all-around back. He can catch it, he can make the dynamic cuts and he definitely can run downhill and east and west. He can do it all," said safety Landon Collins.

And what about LeGarrette Blount, who rushed for 67 yards on 12 carries in the first meeting this year with the Giants?

"Everybody has got to get to the ball," Kennard said. "He's a guy that's hard to get down with one person and you can't expect he's going to be down, so everybody had to swarm to the ball and tag off on him as many times as we can."

It all adds up to yet another classic NFC East showdown, a game that will be played in the cold and windy northeast the way football was meant to be played.

"It's a physical game, but that's how division games are usually," said Darkwa, who will have to make hay against the Eagles' top-ranked run defense. "They don't like us, we don't like them and that's how it usually goes. So, it's a tough task, but we're ready for it."

SERIES HISTORY: 166th regular-season meeting. Giants lead series, 83-80-2. A Giants win would give them their second straight season series split with their NFC East division rivals. If the Giants lose, they will have been swept in the regular-season series by the Eagles in three out of the last four years.

NOTES: S Landon Collins (ankle) did not practice Wednesday. Collins was spotted in a walking boot after aggravating his left ankle injury initially suffered earlier this year. Collins has said that he plans to play this week. ... WR Travis Rudolph (hamstring) was limited Wednesday. Rudolph missed last week's game with the injury, but his status for this week is too soon to tell. ... WR Roger Lewis (ankle) is an addition to the injury report. Lewis did not practice, having suffered his ailment in Sunday's loss to the Cowboys. ... LB B.J. Goodson (ankle), who was inactive last week after aggravating his high-ankle sprain two weeks ago, was limited Wednesday. Goodson said he is feeling better, but didn't sound very optimistic about being available for Sunday's game. ... CB Brandon Dixon (heel/hamstring) was limited Wednesday. Dixon had been in the starting lineup last week for Eli Apple, who was inactive. Dixon's status for Sunday is cloudy. ... TE Rhett Ellison (finger) was limited Wednesday. It's unclear when Ellison injured his finger in last week's game, but the injury is not believed to be serious enough to cost him this weekend's game. ... DT Damon Harrison was held out Wednesday on what the team said was a "rest day." Harrison has had a variety of little injuries over this final half of the season -- elbow, knee and finger, just to name a few -- but none of those are apparently serious enough to jeopardize his chances of playing Sunday. ... DE Jason Pierre-Paul (finger) was limited Wednesday. Pierre-Paul is still working with his right hand bandaged up in a club after injuring his ring finger two weeks ago. ... OL Justin Pugh (back) was not present at practice. He was set to visit with an orthopedic specialist for a second opinion on his ailing back. ... OL Damien Mama was signed to the 53-man roster Tuesday. With Justin Pugh ailing, Mama, who had been on the Chiefs' practice squad, provides depth at guard. ... WR Hunter Sharp was signed to the 53-man roster Tuesday. Sharp, who had been on the Broncos' practice squad, will take the roster spot vacated by Darius Powe, who suffered a broken ankle last week. ... TE Ryan O'Malley was signed to the practice squad. O'Malley takes the spot that opened when TE Matt LaCosse signed with the Broncos' 53-man roster. ... DB Tim Scott was signed to the practice squad. Scott had been with the Giants earlier this year, playing one game (vs. the Rams) before being waived. He was also with the Giants in training camp. ... DE Romeo Okwara, who is eligible to come off the injured reserve/designated to return list this week, will have to wait until later in the week to learn if he'll be added to the 53-man roster. Interim head coach Steve Spagnuolo said he will need to see about the health of other players first before that decision is made.