Category: Game Preview

[jwplayer 4owHAIYy]

The Philadelphia Eagles are in the midst of a sprint to the playoffs and the task starts with a home matchup against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football. The Giants will be without Daniel Jones, as Eli Manning will return to the lineup for the first time in 12 weeks.

Pat Shurmur could be coaching for his job, while the Eagles need to win four straight NFC East games to make the postseason for the third straight seasons.

To get more of an inside scoop on the Giants, we spoke with Dan Benton of Giants Wire about Eli Manning’s return, Saquon Barkley’s continued development and more.

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1. With Eli Manning stepping in for Daniel Jones, how will the Giants change their offense accommodate his skill set?

I don’t necessarily think the offense will change to suit Manning so much as Manning will change the offense to suit him. The Giants still run the same offense they had under Manning, but Daniel Jones is more prone to hold onto the ball and attempt to take some deep shots. At this point in his career, Manning is all about releasing the ball quickly and avoiding deep yardage sacks. I think what everyone will see on Monday night is Manning taking charge at the line of scrimmage, cleaning up protections and getting the offensive line back to some level of function, as well as adjustments at the LOS based on what he’s seeing, which should allow Saquon Barkley to become more of a factor again. That’s not a knock on DJ, just a product of Eli’s 16 seasons.

2. The Eagles have struggled to defend the pass this season and the Giants will be without Jone’s big arm. How do you see Pat Shurmur and offensive coordinator, Mike Shula attacking the Philadelphia secondary?

I would expect to see a boatload of quick passes with Golden Tate and Sterling Shepard both playing. It’s the closest the Giants have come to having their full complement of playmakers and it should really begin to free things up. Kaden Smith has proven he can stretch the field or take over in the middle a bit, while Shepard owns the slot and Tate/Cody Latimer/Darius Slayton provide some outside targets. It should also provide Barkley an opportunity to remind everyone what he’s made of out of the backfield. That would allow Manning to pick and choose his deep shots, which is always when he’s at his finest.

3. Golden Tate is returning to the Giants lineup. Can you tell us what he brings to the offense?

Tate spent the offseason working with Manning exclusively, so I expect to see a better rapport between those two than we had previously seen between Tate and Jones, which was admittedly solid anyway. Tate’s presence allows the Giants to mix and match in the slot and on the outside, which creates some confusion and may yield way to some very good matchups. And given that Manning likes to get rid of the ball quickly and Tate is a master of yards after the catch, you can bet they’ll both be itching to see what opportunities are there to create.

4. This is year No. 2 for Saquon Barkley. How has he improved as a running back after his impressive rookie season? What do the Giants need to do to ensure that his best years aren’t wasted on mediocre teams?

Sadly, I would not say Barkley has improved at all. If anything, Barkley has regressed. Some will argue it’s due to his high ankle sprain, but the reality is, he’s been indecisive when hitting the hole, not reading the field as clearly as he had as a rookie and above all else and his pass protection is leading him to be subbed out in favor of backups. He’s also been ineffective in the passing game with a few crushing drops. There are flashes of the player we saw a season ago, but as far as what he’s doing better, there’s not much. He spends entirely too much time running up the back of his linemen.

5. Who wins and why?

I think the Giants actually snap their eight-game losing streak on Monday simply due to the presence of Eli Manning, who knows this may be his final opportunity in Giants blue. His presence will provide the team with a spark and his smarts at the LOS will help clean up many of the issues that have haunted the team over the previous two weeks. I don’t expect it to be any sort of legendary blowout, just a close game that comes down to the wire — a typical Eli win.

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