Giants not satisfied with their progress against….
There is no such thing as a moral victory in the NFL, and progress isn’t enough. The Giants closed the gap on the NFC East champs, the Philadelphia Eagles, with a 33-25 victory over their hated rival on Christmas Day.
This was the first meeting between the two teams since the Giants eliminated the Eagles from the playoffs in Week 1 last season, the latest of three straight losses to Philadelphia.
“Close” doesn’t mean much, but it’s a start. It’s hard to see that happening, though, not when the Giants are now 10-0 against their two most hated rivals, the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles.
It’s clear that the NFC East is a class of its own,” Barkley said after the game. “It’s obvious. We beat the Cowboys twice. We fought a great game here, and we got beat. I don’t mean that in a negative way. But if this team, if this franchise is going to get where it wants to go, we need to start getting beat.”
The Giants lost for the 11th time in a row at Lincoln Financial Field and for the first time since 2013. It was their fifth loss in a row in the all-time series against the Eagles, and they fell to 6-26 in their past 32 games against the Eagles.
Saquon Barkley’s record at the Linc is 0-6, and his overall record is 1-9. “The last few years, and not just the last few years, I think people are trying to make it sound like it’s a recent thing, but the last 10 years, we haven’t beat Philly and we’ve struggled against Dallas,” he said.
It looked like the Giants were headed for another blowout at the half, just as they had in last year’s playoff loss. They were 20-3 down, had 101 yards and were 1 for 8 on third downs.
But thanks to Boston Scott’s fumble on the Giants’ second-half kickoff on the Eagles’ 14-yard line and three consecutive Barkley runs, the Giants pulled within 20-10. Later in the third quarter, Adoree’ Jackson’s 76-yard interception-return for a score and two-point conversion pulled the Giants back within 20-18.
“It’s 60 minutes,” said Daboll, “it’s a competitive game. Let’s give them some credit.”
“I think there are a lot of ways to tell the difference between the two teams,” said Darren Waller. “It was a nail-biter of a game. Talent-wise, we were right in it. We had a shot to win it at the end.”
The two teams will face each other again in the regular-season finale on January 7th at MetLife.
