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Your In-Depth Eagles at Giants Week 9 Preview

Adrian Fedkiw|

The Philadelphia Eagles have owned the New York Giants in recent years, but with new coaches and changes in rosters, you might as well push the reset button on this fierce and bitter rivalry.

The Eagles have swept the last two season series and won 13 of their last 16 showdowns against the G-Men.

Will that trend continue on Sunday?

 

EAGLES PASSING GAME VS. GIANTS PASS DEFENSE

PHI- 92.1 Passer Rating (16/32), 208 YPG (29/32)
NYG- 77.5 Passer Rating allowed (5/32), 267 YPG allowed (22/32)

Eagles head coach Doug Pederson needs to get more creative and start taking more shots down the field. What happened to all of the different formations and more aggressive play-calling we saw the first three weeks?

The Eagles have recorded just four pass plays of 40-or-more yards since the bye.

Carson Wentz completed 32-of-43 passes for ONLY 202 yards and a touchdown. He averaged just 4.7 yards per attempt and 4.3 air yards.

No, the Eagles don’t have a big-play threat and I understand being more conservative with Halapoulivaati Vaitai being thrust in at right tackle — he played well Sunday by the way. But if the Eagles continue to dink and dunk their way down the field and not do anything to keep the defense honest, Pederson’s offense will become beyond predictable.

It’s already becoming that way.

That can be dangerous going up against Janoris Jenkins and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, a pair of aggressive cornerbacks to make plays on the football.

Pederson needs to take the handcuffs off of Wentz and stop treating him like Alex Smith. The receivers struggle to create separation, but that’s where Wentz comes into play. We quickly forget all of the completions he had in the deep-to-intermediate range earlier this season. He can fit the balls into tight windows despite his receivers offering minimal separation.

Remember Wentz’s first two touchdown passes?

How about this bomb to Jordan Matthews?

Josh Huff’s release from the team Thursday following his arrest two days ago opens the door for undrafted speedster Bryce Treggs, who averaged 21.2 yards per reception during his senior year at California last season. This is where I want fans to exhibit a bit of patience with him. He’s not going to come in and fix the wide receiver problems overnight, it’s going to take him time to develop. He’s a wideout that went undrafted, was cut by the San Francisco 49ers, whose receivers are nearly as bad as the Birds and failed to register one 1,000-yard season while playing with Jared Goff.

EAGLES RUNNING GAME VS. GIANTS RUN DEFENSE

PHI- 4.1 YPC (20/32), 109.4 YPG (17/32)
NYG- 3.6 YPC allowed (6/32), 93.6 YPG allowed (10/32)

How many carries will Darren Sproles get this week?

Sproles led the team in carries with 15 last Sunday, the fourth most of his career, and finished with 86 yards. He also added five receptions for 17 yards. Ryan Mathews, meanwhile, was limited to four carries and Pederson explained during his press conference that his recent fumbles weren’t the reason for his decreased workload, but because Sproles was the “hot hand.”

While the 5’6 Sproles may not be able to handle all those touches each and every week, he’s still explosive and is deserving of 10-12 carries a game. At least Pederson is using him a lot better than Chip Kelly did.

The Giants, however, are very stout against the run, especially in the middle with defensive tackles Johnathan Hankins and Damon Harrison. Hankins turns guards around right off the snap with a quick first step to get into the backfield. He has a lot of power too to drive them backwards as well. At 6’4, 350, Harrison is ridiculously strong to go along with ver long arms and it helps him keep blockers off him. He disrupts the line of scrimmage and clogs the middle. He’s simply immovable.

Olivier Vernon and Jason Pierre-Paul aren’t as stout against the run as Hankins and Harrison, but are still effective.

Sproles is a slasher that likes to run along there edges, so I can see him getting another heavy workload because that’s where I think the Eagles should attack. Don’t be surprised to see Kenjon Barner get more totes with his ability to bounce to the outside as well.

 

GIANTS PASSING GAME VS. EAGLES PASS DEFENSE

PHI- 79.1 Passer Rating allowed (5/32), 214 YPG allowed (5/32)
NYG- 87.3 Passer Rating (20/32), 275 YPG (6/32)

The Eagles are tied for third in the NFL with 22 sacks, but on the other side of the ledger, only the Oakland Raiders (nine) have allowed less sacks than the Giants, who have surrendered 11. A lot of that has to do with head coach Ben McAdoo’s offense and getting rid of the ball quickly, but some of it also has to do with an improved offensive line and nobody has taken more strides forward than left tackle Ereck Flowers.

It’s not going to get easier for Philadelphia’s secondary after Dez Bryant posted four catches for 113 yards and a touchdown against it and having to go up against Odell Beckham. Although Leodis McKelvin got beat a couple times on an island by Bryant, he also did a solid job of competing. If he can do the same against Beckham, that’s all the Eagles can ask for.

Beckham is an electric route runner and when you combine his speed and body control, it makes it very difficult for a cornerback to play him. If you play off, he’ll beat you with his ability after the catch, if you play him on the line, he uses that agility and quickness to make mincemeat out of a defensive back. In my opinion he’s the best yards of the catch receiver in the league, using that agility, quickness and vision in the open field. He can score from anywhere on the field on any given play. He’s as smooth as it gets in the NFL right now.

Sterling Shepard emerged as a reliable target for Eli Manning the first three weeks, putting up 233 yards and two touchdowns on 16 receptions, but has just 101 yards and no scores on 15 catches over his last four games.

Manning silently had the best statistical season of his career last season, setting career highs in yards (4,432) and touchdowns (35) and threw just 14 interceptions for the second straight year, but has just eight touchdowns and six interceptions so far in 2016. He does get inconsistent with his accuracy, but the arm strength is still there as Manning can make all the throws.

 

GIANTS RUNNING GAME VS. EAGLES RUN DEFENSE

PHI- 4.7 YPC (28/32), 114.7 YPG (20/32)
NYG- 3.3 YPC (29/32), 70.1 YPG (32/32)

The Eagles are facing a sub-par rushing attack for a third time in four games, with the Giants ranking dead last in rushing yards per game with 70.1. They gained just 117 yards on 52 carries (2.25 YPC) over their last three games.

The Giants fans have been calling for rookie Paul Perkins to get more carries and perhaps that might start this Sunday. Rashad Jennings leads the team with 142 yards and is averaging just 2.7 yards per carry.

Philadelphia might be getting Bennie Logan back this Sunday. He’s missed the last two games with a groin strain and has been limited in Wednesday and Thursday’s practice.

 

PREDICTION: If the Eagles can disrupt the Giants’ rushing attack like they did against Minnesota two weeks ago, it’ll give them the luxury to pin their ears back and get to Manning. Despite allowing just 11 sacks, I believe New York’s offensive line can be had. But how are the Eagles going to move the ball on offense? I’m looking at Darren Sproles to have another big game.

I like the Eagles to bounce back following a heartbreaking loss in Dallas.

Eagles 27-24

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