New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles Week 14 Pick

The New York Giants take on the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football. Last week’s results make it hard to get behind either team. After showing some early grit, the Giants fell to the Packers, 31-13, for their 8th loss in a row. They now take to the road to face an Eagles team that found a new layer of bedrock on Sunday in a 37-31 loss to the Miami Dolphins of all teams. When that’s the kind of result you produce with the stakes being that high, it speaks volumes. Which side warrants our support this week on MNF?

Will the Eagles Ever Soar this Season?

At least on Sunday, their offense got untracked to the tune of 31 points. Getting Nelson Agholor and Alshon Jeffery back seemed to open up the offense a little bit, and when all the pieces are there, it’s a pretty stocked unit. But the other side of the ball let them down, making the Miami offense look as good as they have all season. After allowing a total of 61 points in their previous four games combined, it was a major letdown.

At home against this Giants’ defense, we could see more of the offensive proliferation we started to see last week. With several good receivers, a few productive backs in Miles Sanders and Jay Ajayi, along with tight ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert, it’s a lot to wield on a Giants’ defense that fails to excel in any given area. The Giants’ pass-rush could give Wentz some trouble, and their secondary can make some plays here and there, but they are among the worst in the conference from a stoutness standpoint.

Then again, over and over this season, it’s been easy to make a case for why the Eagles should do well, and they seldom do. Still, you would figure the fact that they could realistically win the division would register in how they look on the field at some point. So why didn’t it last week? It was the kind of random out-of-conference matchup where a team can be off-rhythm, but we need to wrap our heads around what the Eagles are in actuality, not our best-case projections of what they could be.

Silver Lining in the Giants’ Black Cloud

Not to try to candy-coat a bad situation, as it is, in fact, getting pretty ugly with the Giants after eight straight losses. The defense can’t do much right, while the offense struggles behind a deficient offensive line that an Eagles’ defensive front should be able to dominate in spots. Daniel Jones threw three more picks on Sunday, as the aerial game languishes. Saquon Barkley hasn’t been able to make much of a difference. And it’s not like great teams are beating them, as the Cardinals, Lions, and Jets have recently been able to topple the Giants.

Still, after two straight one-score losses on the road, they were at least vaguely gritty against the Packers on Sunday, behind only 17-13 early in the fourth quarter. Four of their last five losses leading into that game were also one-score affairs. So to say they’re a bad team is very accurate, but we want to make sure not to overstate the case. Based on what we saw from the Eagles on Sunday, this is a spot where the Giants can have some success. Maybe getting back Evan Engram, Golden Tate, or both, could give their offense the needed boost, as they’ve been strapped for viable personnel aerially.

Lousy Against the Spread

It’s hard to get on board when public confidence is so low, but someone has to cover the spread this week. The fact that they’re a combined 8-16 ATS doesn’t even tell the whole story. The Eagles have two covers in their last seven games, while the Giants have two covers over the previous eight weeks. It’s almost a matter of what you dislike least than what you like with these choices. You have two teams not getting what they should out of what they have, and neither is that strong late in games when the chips are in the middle of the pot.