Philadelphia hasn’t won on the road since before Thanksgiving, and the Eagles didn’t beat anyone in December except the New York Giants.
The Eagles (11-5) will try to sweep their NFC East rivals and collect their first away win since Nov. 20 when they face the Giants (5-11) again in Sunday’s regular season finale in East Rutherford, N.J.
Despite a 1-4 December, a win still could give Philadelphia its second straight division title if the Dallas Cowboys (11-5) should stumble at Washington (4-12). Otherwise, the Eagles could be looking at the NFC’s No. 5 seed and all road games for the postseason.
Philly’s failures have been on both sides of the ball. That includes a secondary that has surrendered 34 touchdown passes (only Washington has given up more with 35) and an inconsistent offense propped up by the overwhelming red-zone success of the “Brotherly Shove.”
For the first time in franchise history, Philadelphia has lost three games where it held double-digit leads. The Eagles led the New York Jets 14-3 and lost 20-14 (Week 6), led the Seahawks 10-0 and lost 20-17 (Week 15) and built a 21-6 lead against the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday before falling 35-31.
So even though the Eagles went to the Super Bowl last season and started 10-1 this season, there were rumblings this week about an unhappy locker room and rumors that coach Nick Sirianni has “lost” the team.
“No, I’m not concerned about that,” Sirianni told 94 WIP-FM on Tuesday. “We’re just looking to get back on track.”
The third-year head coach, who owns a 34-16 record, said team spirit has not eroded.
“No, I don’t believe so. Again, we’re all committed. We know we have the right people in this building to accomplish everything we want to accomplish,” Sirianni said. “There’s a lot of teams that would love a playoff ticket, right? We got one. And, we know that anything is possible when you get into that moment. Again, our goal right now is to get out of this rut and have a good game against the New York Giants here on Sunday.”
The Giants are on a three-game losing streak, including a 33-25 decision at Philadelphia on Christmas Day. New York has lost its past five meetings with the Eagles, including last season’s divisional playoff game.
Tyrod Taylor will be the Giants’ fourth different starting quarterback in the past four games against the Eagles: Tommy DeVito (Week 16), Daniel Jones (playoffs last season) and Davis Webb (Week 18 last season).
Taylor passed for 319 yards with one touchdown and one interception in last Sunday’s 26-25 loss to the visiting Los Angeles Rams. The Giants were on the brink of an upset after Gunner Olszewski scored on a 94-yard punt return with 3:27 left, but Taylor missed a wide-open Saquon Barkley on the 2-point conversion attempt.
Giants coach Brian Daboll said his team will play hard to the final whistle despite missing the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years.
“They compete. They’ve had good competitive stamina,” Daboll said Wednesday. “It’s went down to a wire in a few of these games. Obviously haven’t gotten the results we want, but yeah, (I) appreciate how they’re working in the building. They’re pros. They’re doing everything they can do to try to be as good as they can be.”
The Giants are 3-4 at MetLife Stadium, where they have been outscored 139-86 this season.
Center John Michael Schmitz (shin) and safety Jason Pinnock (toe) were the only Giants players who missed practice on Wednesday.
The Eagles are considering resting some starters. Wide receiver DeVonta Smith (ankle), linebacker Haason Reddick (illness) and defensive tackle Jordan Davis (ankle) did not practice Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
