American Football

Eagles-Giants Divisional Round preview and predictions

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New York Giants v Philadelphia Eagles
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

How are you feeling about this matchup?

370 days.

That’s how long it’s been since the Philadelphia Eagles played their last playoff game.

Except it wasn’t really much of a game at all since they got down 31 to 0 before eventually scoring some garbage time points.

I’m willing to bet that that loss has consumed Jalen Hurts ever since.

The struggling player in that game is not who he wants to be.

His dedication to improvement is a testament to as much.

Hurts is now much, much better than he was around this time one year ago.

And now everything he worked so insanely hard for is right in front of him.

Beat the New York Giants and the Eagles are just one more win away from heading to the Super Bowl.

I trust Hurts to deliver.

Even if he’s not truly 100%, which remains to be seen, there’s no good reason why he shouldn’t be able to lead his team to victory.

On paper, at least, the Giants’ defense is certainly better than it was when Hurts torched it in Week 14. They’re healthier now with Leonard Williams, Adoree’ Jackson, and Xavier McKinney back in the lineup.

But the Eagles also have some players back who weren’t available for that matchup. Dallas Goedert figures to be a BIG challenge for a Giants secondary that allowed T.J. Hockenson to dominate them. C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s knack for making plays is going to be valuable to have around against a team that’s done a good job of taking care of the ball.

The Giants should be expected to put up a fight in this one. It’s just what they’ve regularly done under Brain Daboll, who has a strong case for Coach of the Year. They typically don’t beat themselves. They manage to hang around.

At the end of the day, though, the Giants are at a significant talent deficit. And that’s going to shine through in the end when Hurts leads the Eagles to a touchdown that seals a double-digit win for the Birds to advance to the NFC Championship Game.

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Suggested format:

Score prediction:

Bold prediction:

My predictions:

Score prediction: 30 to 20, Eagles win.

Bold prediction: Dallas Goedert finishes with just his second multi-touchdown game of his career.

Your predictions:

Leave your own score predictions in the comments.

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