One of the top young coaches in the game, Mayo spent eight years with the Patriots as a player and the past two seasons as an inside linebackers coach with the team.
With Mayo on the staff, the Patriots defense has allowed the fewest points per game in the NFL over the past two seasons (18.1), while opposing quarterbacks had just a 75.5 passer rating against the Patriots defense over the past two seasons, the lowest in the league.
The New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles square off in Week 14, and here are five reasons Big Blue could come away with the win.
The New York Giants are currently on an eight-game losing streak and are heading to Philadelphia (where they haven’t won a game since 2013) to take on the struggling Eagles on Monday night.
The Eagles are on a three-game losing streak of their own after an embarrassing 37-31 loss to the lowly Miami Dolphins last week. At 5-7, they are watching their divisional championship hopes dwindle away if things continue to trend in the wrong direction.
With the Dallas Cowboys in a rut of their own at 6-6, the Eagles absolutely need to win this game, which arguably makes the Giants even more dangerous in the role as spoiler.
Here are five reasons why the Giants can pull off an improbable victory in a city they haven’t won in since 2013.
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Eli Manning
Rookie Daniel Jones seemingly unseated Manning from his 16-year starting quarterback throne with the Giants for good in Week 3 when he took over. Unfortunately, Jones suffered what they are calling a high ankle sprain last week against the Green Bay Packers, despite finishing out the contest.
On Monday Pat Shurmur initially stated that Jones did not require any further tests on the ankle Monday expecting him to be fine. However, on Wednesday Shurmur announced that Jones would not practice while also revealing he suffered a high ankle sprain.
Paging doctor Manning, it now looks more than likely that Eli will start on Monday for the first time since being benched in favor of Jones in Week 3.
While Jones has shown promising signs this season, he still has the expected growing pains of a rookie quarterback. With Eli, the Giants get a veteran Hall of Famer, who has been around the block a few times and has battled it out with the Eagles for close to 20 years. He also eliminates the turnover issues that come with Jones in his first year.
It is expected that Eli will return with a chip on his shoulder and make the most of his surprise playing time. But, keep in mind that Manning has struggled against the Eagles in his career with a 10-22 record, and a 59.3% completion percentage. The Eagles have won their last five meetings with the Giants and nine of their last 10 games. Monday could give us a better idea of whether Pat Shurmur pulled the plug on Eli too early this season. We shall find out.
