Daniel Jones | Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants beat the Vikings in the Wild Card round after losing to them in the regular season, and now hope to do the same to the Eagles.
In Week 16, the New York Giants lost by three points to the Minnesota Vikings. But on Sunday, they went on to beat the Vikings when it mattered: in the Wild Card round to earn their first playoff win in over a decade.
Now, the Giants have to hope they have similar good fortune against another recent opponent whom they recently lost to.
After putting on a masterful offensive showing to upset the Vikings 31-23 on Sunday, the six-seeded Giants will now be rewarded with another trip to the No. 1 seed Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional playoff round. The game will probably be played next Saturday, Jan. 21, because the league will likely not make the winner of Monday night’s Dallas Cowboys-Tampa Bay game play until Sunday.
Like the Vikings, the Giants have played the Eagles recently. Twice in fact, as both of the New York vs Philadelphia games were played late in the season.
Let’s take a quick look at both of those matchups as we gear up for the divisional round:
Week 14: Eagles 48, Giants 22
The Eagles blew out the Giants in this one. Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts was efficient as he threw for 217 yards and scored two touchdowns with no interceptions. Eagles’ running back Miles Sanders ran over New York with 144 yards on the ground and Hurts added another 77 yards on the ground. Basically, the Eagles simply pounded the Giants into the ground on the road as they improved to 12-1. Offensively, the Giants couldn’t do much either, as Daniel Jones was held to 169 yards passing and Saquon Barkley had just 28 yards on nine carries. Both of those players were excellent against the Vikings (Jones threw for 301 yards and had 78 yards on the ground and Barkley had two touchdowns, including the game winner). The Giants were no match for the Eagles in this game.
Week 18: Eagles 22, Giants 16
This was game was played in Week 18, but it’s really difficult to read anything into that. The Giants rested their starters because they were locked into the No. 6 seed and the Eagles needed the win to lock up the No. 1 seed and the first-round bye. Like most Week 18 games, it was an odd, sloppy game. But the Giants did hang in there, and that might give them confidence and help them bury the Week 14 debacle.
What it means:
There is no doubting that the Eagles were the better team in the regular season and they handled the Giants in the two games. But any time division rivals play in the postseason, things can get weird. The whole “it’s hard to beat a team three times in a season” is real. If the Giants’ offense can stay as sharp as it was on Sunday, New York can hang in this game. It’s not going to be a cake walk for the Eagles and coach Nick Sirianni probably knows that.
After their Week 16 game against the Cowboys, Sirianni told Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy that they will see each again. Yet, it’s Brian Daboll’s spunky Giants who are standing in their NFC East rival’s way first.
