The Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants are enjoying contrasting fortunes in 2021 and especially of late. The Eagles are coming off a win big win over the New Orleans Saints and the Giants are coming off a deflating defeat to the defending Super Bowl champions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 11.
Across sportsbook platforms, the Giants opened as the field-goal underdogs for this pivotal NFC East date with the Eagles and the total was set to 46 points. Since the markets opened, the line has moved up to 3.5 points at several top-rated sportsbooks.
Sunday, November 28, 2021 – 01:00 PM EST at MetLife Stadium
It was always going to be a tough ask for Daniel Jones and the Giants to pull off the upset over the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on Monday Night Football. One had to look at the market to get a sense of just how tough it was -- books closed the market on the game with the Giants at +10.5. And yet, nobody thought it would be as bad as it turned out.
In fact, there were some that believed the Giants could be competitive enough to at least cover as the double-digit underdogs. This was just fanciful thinking but based on past performance.
The Giants had beaten the New Orleans Saints 27-21 in Week 4, the Carolina Panthers 25-3 in Week 7, and the Las Vegas Raiders 23-16 in Week 9. They’d also given the Kansas City Chiefs a run for their money in a 20-17 loss to cover as the 10.5-point road underdogs at the NFL odds.
Alas, things didn’t go to plan and the Giants succumbed to the 30-10 loss in Tampa Bay. It marked yet another loss for third-year quarterback Jones in primetime – he has yet to win under the lights in his fledgling career.
The Giants’ offense was impotent in the face of the Buccaneers’ defense that never seemed to let up. They were held scoreless in the second half of the game as Jones’ struggles got worse with each quarter. Nothing went right for the G-men, not even Saquon Barkley’s return from injury provided the hoped-for spark.
All told, offensive coordinator Jason Garrett was fired immediately after the game, meaning that former Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens will take over the play-calling for the foreseeable.
Whether Kitchens will get the G-men going remains to be seen. He doesn’t have a lot to work with, to begin with, and he himself is a bit of a wildcard bet. After all, he was fired from Cleveland after one season.
The Eagles picked up their second-straight win after beating the Saints 40-29 at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday. It marked their first back-to-back winning streak in 2021 as they improved to a 5-6 record on the season.
The Eagles appear to have hit on something that works because they’ve won three of their last four games. Granted, they didn’t beat a top-tier team during this run with wins over the Detroit Lions (44-6), Denver Broncos (30-13), and the Saints.
However, all three wins were impressive across all facets of the game. There’s an undeniable improvement on the offense, defense, and special teams.
Second-year quarterback Jalen Hurts appears to have hit his stride. After throwing 4 interceptions in his first six games, Hurts has only thrown one in the last five games. His passing game has tightened up and, at the same time, his rushing game has amped up. In the win over the Saints, he scored 3 rushing touchdowns while scampering for just under 70 yards.
This elevated form couldn’t have come at a better time just as the Eagles are headed into the final stretch. Interestingly, the Eagles have one of the easiest schedules in the last seven weeks with two dates against the Giants and Washington, respectively, as well dates against the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys.
The way things are set up, the Eagles might well surprise and make a push for one of the NFC spots in the postseason. Of course, there is a way to go before the curtain comes down on the regular season, but if the Eagles can win out, they will have a shot. Philadelphia has a late bye week in December, too, which will be an advantage as they look to regroup and prepare for the final push.
It’s hard to bet against the Eagles in this matchup considering Hurts is finally flourishing and playing well and the team appears to be buying what head coach Nick Sirianni is selling. The same can’t be said of the Giants, who have lost the plot entirely and fallen into a hole (and the NFC East basement) that they’ll be hard-pressed to crawl out of now.
One feels for Jones and the Giants, and the thought of having more misery heaped on them doesn’t bear thinking about. But it does look unavoidable right now unless Kitchens somehow shakes things up in his first game under the headset as the offensive coordinator.
Hard to see that happen though. So, take the Eagles to win and cover for your NFL picks.
NFL Pick: Eagles -3 (-108) at Heritage Sports (visit our Heritage Sports Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.