Category: Giants Wire Features

Conference Championship Sunday will be hell for the Giants

Conference Championship Sunday will be an in-your-face reminder of everything the New York Giants have done wrong since 2022.

The New York Giants opened the year hopeful that they had narrowed the gap in the NFC East and would celebrate their 100th season with a return to the playoffs.

What transpired is the exact opposite of that.

The Giants went winless in the NFC East for the first time in franchise history. They won only a single home game and have been forced to sit idly by while their former coaches and players enjoy playoff success.

It has become a nightmare of epic proportions.

Over the weekend, the Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles won their respective contests to set up a divisional matchup in the NFC Championship Game, highlighting just how far back the Giants are from the pack.

As bad as that seems, they can find no solace when looking at the AFC Championship Game, which also provides plenty of reasons for pessimism and disgust.

For co-owner John Mara, the entire franchise, and their fans, Conference Championship Sunday will be a tough pill to swallow.

Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills

The very reason the Giants hired the regime of general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll was due to their success in Buffalo.

Schoen was general manager Brandon Beane’s close friend and righthand man for five seasons. He received significant praise for helping turn the organization into a consistent contender, while Daboll was credited with the development and success of quarterback Josh Allen.

Without the pair, the Bills haven’t missed a beat. They’re every bit as good, if not better than when Schoen and Daboll were in town. The Giants, meanwhile, are an unmitigated disaster.

Then there’s the Chiefs, who are being led by a dominant defense this season. The man at the helm? Former Giants defensive coordinator and interim head coach, Steve Spagnuolo.

Spagnuolo is aided by another former Giants assistant, defensive backs coach Dave Merritt.

And then there’s quarterback Patrick Mahomes, whom former Giants head coach Ben McAdoo desperately wanted to trade up for in the 2017 NFL draft. Instead, they remained in place and took tight end Evan Engram at No. 23 overall.

What could have been?

Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Commanders

The Eagles and Commanders being in this spot is tough enough for the Giants, but how they got here only adds more salt to the wounds.

As everyone saw during “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants,” Daboll signed off on trading up for quarterback Jayden Daniels in the 2024 NFL draft. That’s the player he wanted.

Schoen was unable to get a deal done. Daniels went to the Commanders at No. 2 overall and then fellow quarterback Drake Maye went to the New England Patriots at No. 3 overall.

The Giants stayed in place and selected wide receiver Malik Nabers, Daniels’ former LSU teammate and close friend, at No. 6 overall.

Although Nabers is a superstar in the making, the Giants have an empty cart at quarterback. Daniels (or Maye) should have shored that issue up but instead, the Giants have been left to pick from the secondary market in 2025.

And finally, the Eagles…

Led by Saquon Barkley, the Giants’ former captain and offensive cornerstone, Philly is a dominant all-around unit capable of creating holes large enough to drive a semi truck through. At any given moment, Barkley can break off a game-changing run and bury the dagger even deeper into the heart of John Mara.

Mara said during an episode of Hard Knocks that it would be a “nightmare” to see Barkley in an Eagles uniform. Even he couldn’t have imagined how horrifying that nightmare would actually become.

A week from now, we could be talking about Barkley, an MVP candidate, leading Philly to the Super Bowl — the most fitting possible ending for the worst season in Giants history.

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Saquon Barkley propels Eagles to NFC Championship Game: Giants X reacts

It was a weekend nightmare for New York Giants fans, who reacted in kind after watching Saquon Barkley take the Eagles to the NFC title game.

The Philadelphia Eagles will host the NFC Championship Game thanks to a historical performance by running back Saquon Barkley, who exploded for 232 total yards and two touchdowns on Sunday.

Barkley had back-breaking runs of 62 yards and 78 yards to put the game on ice, both literally and figuratively. And several of his former New York Giants teammates were on hand cheering for their long-time rivals.

It was a tough watch for Giants fans, who could do nothing but marvel at the team’s former captain and offensive superstar. He’s doing for the Eagles what they always wished for him with the Giants.

But poor roster building and a misevaluation of the running back market by general manager Joe Schoen prevented that. Even if Barkley had re-signed, neither he nor the Giants would be where the Eagles are right now.

Despite that reality, Giants fans couldn’t resist the opportunity to vent their frustrations on Sunday afternoon. Some celebrated the player but most let their true feelings be known.

Here’s how Giants X reacted:

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Giants vs. Eagles: NFL experts make Week 18 picks

See who experts around the league are taking in a Week 18 matchup between the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles.

The New York Giants (3-13) will visit the Philadelphia Eagles (13-3) on Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Opening the week, the Giants were listed as 3.5-point road underdogs but that spread has softened slightly with the Eagles now at -3 as of this writing.

Let’s take a look at who some of the experts and insiders around the league are taking in the Week 18 matchup:

Expert Pick Score (if applicable)
Dan Graziano (ESPN) Eagles N/A
Matt Bowen (ESPN) Eagles N/A
Seth Wickersham (ESPN) Eagles N/A
Pete Prisco (CBS) Eagles 23-16
John Breech (CBS) Giants 27-23
Jordan Dajani (CBS) Eagles 24-14
Nate Davis (USA TODAY) Giants 20-16
Lorenzo Reyes (USA TODAY) Eagles 25-10
Bill Bender (Sporting News) Eagles  28-17
Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News) Eagles  24-16

Even with the Eagles likely to rest most (if not all) of their starters, the above panel heavily favors Philly this coming Sunday. The score predictions are all over the map with some anticipating a closer game and others expecting the Giants to be blown out by the Eagles’ reserves.

Other experts and analysts from around the league are similarly pessimistic when it comes to the Giants with just 21 percent predicting an upset, per NFL Pickwatch.

Fans are even more bullish on the Eagles with a whopping 93 percent picking them to win.

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Giants vs. Eagles: 3 reasons for optimism in Week 18

The New York Giants visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in Week 18, and here are three reasons for optimism.

The New York Giants will wrap up their season on the road against the first-place Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday.

The Giants are, of course, coming off their third win of the season where they snapped a 10-game losing streak. Although they got the win, the loss of the draft positioning where New York was in line to get the No. 1 pick got most of the attention on Sunday.

The Eagles, meanwhile, are coming off a win against the Dallas Cowboys where they locked up the NFC East title and the second seed in the NFC for the postseason.

With nothing for the Eagles to play for, many of their starters are not expected to suit up in the regular season finale. That includes former Giant Saquon Barkley, who was in reach of hall of fame Eric Dickerson’s rushing record.

The Giants opened up as 3.5-point road underdogs earlier this week — a high number given the lack of significance behind the game for Philly in mind.

Here are three reasons for optimism ahead of Sunday.

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Eagles have nothing to play for

With the NFC East title and the second seed of the playoffs already locked up, the Eagles will be resting their starters in a game that would likely be a blowout if it was not the regular season finale. Certainly, due to a flurry of injuries, the Giants have been playing with backup players for most of the second half of the season. Therefore, with the Eagles resting their starters, it evens the playing field a little bit.

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Momentum

Drew Lock and the Giants are coming off an offensive explosion in Week 17. They may have found a cure for the offensive ineptitude that has plagued them all season long. As much as the fans would like the players and coaching staff to be tanking, the players have clearly not quit. The Giants will be out to end the season on a high note on Sunday.

Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The rookies

Malik Nabers and Tyrone Tracy Jr. had milestone days last week as they both eclipsed 1,000 scrimmage yards on the season. Additionally, Nabers had a career-high in receiving yards and eclipsed 100 catches as well.

Nabers, who is currently at 104 receptions, will be chasing Puka Nacua’s rookie receptions record (105) which was set last season. Las Vegas Raiders rookie tight end Brock Bowers has already surpassed that mark with 108 receptions and counting.

Nabers will need four more catches than Bowers in Week 18 to tie the rookie record by a pass catcher. However, he needs just two catches to break the record for receptions by a wide receiver.

Tracy has been a bigger surprise and has certainly helped ease the pain of the departure of Saquon Barkley.

The Giants’ two rookies on offense will be leaned on heavily once again on Sunday.

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Giants vs. Eagles: 3 causes for concern in Week 18

The New York Giants square off in a Sunday afternoon battle against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 18. Here are three causes for concern.

The New York Giants will end their extremely disappointing season on Sunday when they travel to face the Philadelphia Eagles.

With little to play for, the Eagles are expected to rest their starters against Big Blue on Sunday, including former Giant and the NFL’s leading rusher Saquon Barkley.

The Giants are coming off their first win in months after beating the Indianapolis Colts at home this past Sunday. The result resulted in a mixed reaction from fans given the fall in draft stock that the win cost Big Blue.

Earlier this week, the Giants opened up as 3.5-point road underdogs for their trip to Philadelphia.

Here are three causes for concern ahead of the Giants’ Week 18 matchup against the Eagles.

Luke Hales/Getty Images

Battle of backups

Generally speaking, the Giants have been playing the bulk of the season with their backups. On Sunday, they will face off against a different version of the Eagles than they saw earlier in the season. They will be without many of their starters including Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts.

However, Hurts didn’t play last week and Philadelphia still put up 40-plus points while holding the Dallas Cowboys to just seven.

The Giants may have two of the best players in the game, Malik Nabers and Tyrone Tracy Jr., who will suit up on Sunday. But, collectively as a unit, the Eagles’ backups are a much stronger team than what the Giants have marched out on the field since the bye week.

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Hostile environment

The Giants have had little success against the Eagles in recent memory and even less when playing on the road in the hostile environment in Philadelphia. Given the Giants’ record, the game down the New Jersey turnpike will have even fewer Giants fans in the stands than usual.

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Giants’ offensive ineptitude

Certainly, the Giants showed an explosive performance on offense this past Sunday. However, given the 10-game losing streak that came before that, it’s hard to imagine them putting back-to-back positive offensive performances together.

The Giants have been one of the worst teams in football on offense before Week 17 and it’s going to be hard for the Giants to replicate it again against the Eagles with Drew Lock under center.

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If you’re in blue, you’ll get Giants vs. Eagles on TV

NFL Week 18 television maps are out and if you’re in blue, you’ll get the New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles on your local CBS station.

The New York Giants (3-13) are preparing to visit the Philadelphia Eagles (3-13) at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for a Week 18 matchup.

The Giants are coming off a shocking 45-33 beatdown of the Indianapolis Colts, while the Eagles wrapped up the NFC East with a dominant 41-7 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

Those in the blue region of the TV map will get the game on the local CBS channel.

Getting the call for this game will be Andrew Catalon (play-by-play), Tiki Barber (analyst), Jason McCourty (analyst), AJ Ross (sideline).

Information courtesy 506Sports.

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Gimme Him: One player Giants would steal from Eagles

The New York Giants are forever in need of quality offensive linemen, so this Philadelphia Eagles player would be an obvious choice to steal.

The New York Giants (3-13) will visit the Philadelphia Eagles (13-3) at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Sunday afternoon in a Week 18 battle.

That, of course, provides those of us here at Giants Wire the opportunity to hypothetically steal from the Eagles’ roster in search of depth and/or talent upgrades for Big Blue for the second time this year.

Back in Week 7, we took offensive tackle Jordan Mailata, so he is officially off the board.

A quick look at Philly’s roster reveals a plethora of potential upgrades. There’s quarterback Jalen Hurts, running back Saquon Barkley, tight end Dallas Goedert, cornerbacks Darius Slay, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, and several other options.

However, we find ourselves going back to the same thing we saw in Week 7: Philly has an absolutely loaded and dominant offensive line whereas the Giants do not.

So, who will it be? Offensive tackle Lane Johnson or guard Landon Dickerson?

The Giants would benefit from an upgrade at either position but given Johnson’s age (34), we opted to steal Dickerson this week.

Dickerson has steadily improved over each of his first four seasons and has the ninth-best overall grade (79.2) among qualifying guards in 2024, per Pro Football Focus. His versatility would also provide the Giants added insurance at center.

Perhaps most noteworthy has been Dickerson’s improvement as a pass blocker. While he has allowed 5.0 sacks this season, most of that can be attributed to a particularly sloppy game against the New Orleans Saints in Week 3. Outside of that, he’s allowed just three QB hits and 2.0 sacks from the guard position.

Dickerson’s presence would immediately upgrade the Giants’ offensive interior, which had been a larger issue than the tackle position before it was ravaged by injuries.

What are your thoughts, Giants fans? Would you pick Landon Dickerson or would you steal an entirely different player from the Philadelphia Eagles?

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Giants beat Colts in a shootout, 45-33: Here’s how X reacted

The New York Giants avoided going winless at home, defeating the Indianapolis Colts, 45-33, in Week 17 and here’s how X reacted.

The New York Giants came in to their Week 17 game against the Indianapolis Colts in jeopardy of being the first team in NFL history to go 0-9 at home.

The Giants got off to a hot start with an impressive interception by Dane Belton and on the ensuing drive, both Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Malik Nabers eclipsed 1,000 yards on the season.

Nabers had two touchdowns on the day and a career-high in receiving yards.

The Giants also opened the second half with their first kick-off return touchdown since 2015 by Ihmir Smith-Marsette.

The second half was quite the shootout and the Colts hung around late into the fourth quarter. However, the Giants continued to keep pace and were able to hold off the Colts’ attempts at a comeback.

With the win the Giants improved to 3-13, snapping a 10-game losing streak and avoid going 0-9 at home on the season.

Here’s how X reacted to the win:

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Giants vs. Colts Player of the Game: WR Malik Nabers

The New York Giants defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 45-33, at MetLife Stadium in Week 17 and WR Malik Nabers is our Player of the Game.

The New York Giants defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 45-33, at MetLife Stadium in Week 17 and rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers is our Player of the Game.

New York shocked the NFL world by pulling off an upset and getting their first home win of the season on Sunday. After several weeks of lackluster offensive output, the Giants exploded with 45 points which is by far the most they have scored this season and they have Nabers to thank for much of that offensive success.

The sixth overall draft pick had by far the best game of his career in Week 16. He finished with seven receptions for 171 yards and two touchdowns.

Nabers demonstrated his excellence in every aspect of the game on Sunday. Both of his touchdowns came after breaking multiple tackles and evading multiple defenders to showcase his after-the-catch skills.

The rookie also came down with an amazing sideline contested catch which set up a Wan’Dale Robinson five-yard touchdown catch.

With this game, the LSU product has broken the Giants’ rookie record for receptions in a season as he now has 104 catches in 14 games. Nabers also has 1,140 receiving yards and six touchdowns to go with his triple-digit receptions.

While the Giants may have missed out on the first overall pick with this win they will be happy to know they hit gold with their rookie receiver.

Once they are able to match Nabers with a franchise quarterback things could get scary in East Rutherford.

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