The NFC East is guaranteed to have at least one representative playing for the conference title as the Giants and Eagles are set square off for the third time this season with an NFC championship game appearance on the line.
Philadelphia, which earned the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye, beat New York in both regular-season meetings. In Week 14 at Metlife Stadium, the Eagles won 48-22, the most one-sided result for either side all year. When they met again in Week 18 at Lincoln Financial Field, the Giants sat their starters with a playoff spot already locked up. They lost 22-16 in Jalen Hurts’ first game back from a shoulder injury.
New York upset Minnesota in the wild-card round on the road, 31-24, as three-point underdogs to advance. The Giants lost to the Vikings on that same field just a few weeks prior, 27-24, on a game-winning field goal and got their revenge.
Daniel Jones had his best game of the year on the biggest stage of his career so far. He completed 24-of-35 attempts for 301 yards and two touchdowns and gained 78 yards on 17 carries. The Vikings struck first but the Giants responded and the defense did well to limit star receiver Justin Jefferson to 47 yards on seven catches with cornerback Adoree’ Jackson and safety Xavier McKinney back.
Jones was not nearly as effective earlier in the year against the Eagles’ defense, which led the NFL in sacks this season. He threw for just 169 yards and a touchdown and gained 26 yards on four carries, while adding another score on the ground in the Week 14 game. Jones also took four sacks and was replaced by Tyrod Taylor in the fourth quarter of a contest that was out of reach.
For his career, Jones is 2–3 against Philadelphia. Hurts is 4–2 against New York.
The Giants gave the Eagles quite a scare in the season finale in a game they needed to clinch the bye. Philadelphia was a whopping 17-point favorite and led 19-0 in the third quarter before New York stormed back.
The Eagles are a 7.5-point favorite at home, where they were 7–2 straight up (SU) this season. The last time the Giants won in Philadelphia was 2013 and the last playoff meeting between these division foes was in 2009. The all-time playoff series between the rivals is tied, 2–2.
New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles NFL Divisional Round Odds
Moneyline: Giants (+275) | Eagles (-350)
Spread: NYG +7.5 (-110) | PHI -7.5 (-110)
Total: 47.5 – Over (-110) | Under (-110)
Game Info: Jan. 21, 2023 | 8:15 p.m. ET | Fox
Giants Straight-Up Record: 10–7–1
Giants Against the Spread Record: 14–4
Eagles Straight-Up Record: 14–3
Eagles Against the Spread Record: 8–9
Bet on Giants-Eagles at SI Sportsbook
In the first matchup, the Eagles ran for 253 yards and four scores on the Giants. Running back Miles Sanders accounted for 144 yards and two touchdowns and Hurts added 77 yards and also found the end zone. The second time, Philadelphia ran for 135 yards but on just 4.0 yards per carry. Hurts did not look like himself, gaining 13 yards on nine carries and completing less than 60% of his passes.
Running the ball was at the forefront of the Eagles’ offensive success in the regular season. Hurts made improvements as a passer this year and the offseason trade for A.J. Brown gave him an extra weapon to throw to, but the ground game is the foundation of this unit which ran for an NFL-best 32 rushing touchdowns.
New York was one of the worst teams at defending against the run in the regular season, though Minnesota was limited to 61 yards on 16 carries in the wild-card round. If Hurts is limited and the Giants can somehow slow down the ground attack, that’s their recipe for mucking up this game.
Jones will be hard-pressed to repeat what he did versus the Vikings against the Eagles’ pass rush, but first-year coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka know well how to play to Jones’s and running back Saquon Barkley’s strengths.
One way or another, it appears this game will be tight.
New York had an NFL-best 13–4 record against the spread (ATS) in the regular season and a 10–2 mark ATS as underdogs. The Giants held up fine enough on the road with a 4–4 mark SU, though they were 6–1 ATS in away games.
Philadelphia’s 8–9 ATS record did not match up with its league-best 14–3 SU mark. The Eagles are used to being the favorite with an 8–8 mark ATS in such games. The only game they weren’t favored in was a Week 16 bout in Dallas with Gardner Minshew starting in place of Hurts. The Cowboys won, 40-34, and covered the four-point spread.
In the Week 14 contest that Philadelphia covered as a seven-point favorite, the over of 44.5 points hit. And in Week 18 when New York covered as 17-point underdogs, the under of 43 points cashed.
BET: Giants +7.5 (-110)
