The New York Giants are visiting Lincoln Financial Field, their own personal house of horrors, this Sunday when they face the Philadelphia Eagles. Things are upside-down in the NFC East, though, with the Giants on top and the wounded Eagles at the bottom. Let’s discuss that in our ‘5 questions’ segment with Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation.
Ed: How are Eagles fans processing what has happened to the team this year? It has been a shocking fall. Is there any light at the end of the tunnel?
BLG: Back in the offseason, I talked about feeling less optimistic about the Eagles’ short-term outlook than their long-term outlook.
There’s no denying that this season is a stinker. The Eagles are arguably the worst team in the NFL. There isn’t just one reason why that’s the case. When you’re this bad, it truly takes a team effort.
The offense is bad and injured. New offensive coordinator Sean Mannion and new offensive line coach Chris Kuper (who replaced legendary two-time Super Bowl champion Jeff Stoutland) seem to be in over their heads. Nick Sirianni has no answers to help them. Jalen Hurts was a big reason why the Eagles won their first two games but he didn’t play as well after that and is now out for the season.
Vic Fangio’s defense has way underperformed expectations. The veteran defensive coordinator is not having a good season. The Eagles paid big money to homegrown interior defensive linemen Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis … in addition to veteran edge rusher Jonathan Greenard … but the defensive line is getting pushed around.
Howie Roseman didn’t have a very good offseason. You can’t point to many moves that are currently helping the team. (The A.J. Brown trade is looking pretty good, though. But the first-round pick they got for him doesn’t arrive until 2028.)
Despite the current struggles, there is reason to be optimistic about this team’s future. Things previously looked bleak for the Eagles after they fired their head coach in 2012, 2015, and 2020. But Jeffrey Lurie and Roseman quickly righted the ship after each of those debacles. This isn’t to suggest that there’s a guarantee that the Eagles will get back on track as soon as next season. But there’s reason to give that duo some benefit of the doubt. I certainly won’t be surprised if they use this bad season to reset the franchise and focus on building a new championship contender. The Eagles probably won’t stay bad for very long.
And even if they do … we’ve been able to witness two Super Bowl wins within the past nine years. It could be way worse!
Ed: What are your thoughts on the Jalen Hurts situation? In my view, it is a really bad look for the Eagles. Does it look and feel as bad from where you sit?
BLG: It certainly doesn’t look or feel great.
And I know some people around him were not happy with how the situation was handled. Understandably so.
Without knowing all the details, it’s difficult to speak definitively on the matter.
I’ll just say that I hope the team truly did operate with Hurts’ health and safety in mind and this was just an unfortunate scenario. I also hope Hurts is getting better and can be cleared to play football again in the future.
For many reasons, his standing with the team moving forward isn’t clear. But there’s plenty of time to figure that out down the road.
Ed: If you could take one player off the Giants’ roster and put him in Philadelphia’s lineup, who would it be? Why?
BLG: ’m not super interested in trying to salvage this season, which already seems lost. So, I’m not thinking about a short-term, win-now addition.
Malik Nabers is tempting; he’s been good and the Eagles could use another stud receiver with Makai Lemon’s outlook uncertain. I’m interested in fortifying the Eagles’ offensive line with Lane Johnson retiring … maybe take Andrew Thomas and either move him or Jordan Mailata to right tackle? The Eagles could use help at tight end and I like Isaiah Likely. But he also got paid a lot of money.
I’ve been hearing good things about Arvell Reese, though I haven’t had a ton of time to key in on him yet.
But I’m ultimately going to go with Philly native Abdul Carter.
I noticed he ranks top 20 in pressures generated. He seems to be having a better season than his sack numbers would indicate. The Eagles need edge rusher help in long term and it would be fun to have him return home to help his favorite NFL team.
Ed: How would you expect Howie Roseman to react to this? A seller in the short-term? What about the long-term?
BLG: It seems like a no-brainer for Roseman to sell players who won’t be around next season. The likes of Riq Woolen (one-year contract), Hollywood Brown (one-year contract), and Moro Ojomo (playing on last year of his deal and the Eagles already paid Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis) should pretty much be gone for whatever the Eagles can fetch for them.
The Eagles should be willing to take offers for more premium players, such as Saquon Barkley. It’s already been reported that they’re NOT going to deal him. And my guess is that report came to light because Roseman already sensed the market for him isn’t as lucrative as it would take for the Eagles to move him. That’s fine. But, again, they should be willing to sell almost every player on their roster as long as the price is right. Just like it was in the case of the Cam Jurgens trade. Absolutely no one in Philly thought the Eagles could get a second-round pick for a player who really struggled last season and wasn’t off to a great start this year. If there’s great value to be had, Roseman should take it.
I doubt Roseman is of the mind the Eagles need to be in a multi-year rebuild. He’s built contenders in much shorter time-frames.
Ed: How weird is it for you to look at the betting line and see the Giants as FAVORITES at the Linc? What do the Giants have to do to win this game? What, if anything, makes you think the Eagles can pull an upset? (And, yes, that sounds weird to me, too)
BLG: It’s certainly not hard to believe given the current state of the Eagles. But it is wild in the historical context that they haven’t been in this home underdog position since 2009. The Eagles have mostly owned the Giants for a long time now; they are 21-6 in 27 meetings against the G-Men since I started covering the Birds for BGN in 2013.
What do the Giants have to do to win? Pretty much just show up. The Eagles’ offense is abysmal. Their defense has had some moments but they’re bad, too. It doesn’t seem like this team stands much of a chance. I refuse to believe otherwise until they actually give us something to think otherwise.
I think John Harbaugh will have his team ready and fired up to get a win in Philly. The Giants should also be well-rested coming off a bye while the Eagles are banged up and coming off a Sunday night road game.
Eagles 7, Giants 28.
