A Christmas Gift for Philadelphia — Eagles Take Down Giants

The Eagles snapped their 3 game-losing streak on Christmas Day against the New York Giants in an absolute thriller. Philadelphia has fought through turmoil and adversity the past 3 weeks ever since their tough 42-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. The Birds finally got back on the right track and while it wasn’t pretty, a win is a win.

Philadelphia looked like they had finally turned their season back around when halftime came, but an infuriating play by Olamide Zaccheaus and Boston Scott summed up the season perfectly.

Even after this mishap, Philly prevailed. New York scored a 69-yard touchdown with Tyrod Taylor at Quarterback after Tommy DeVito was benched and this gave the GMen a real chance to win. They trailed just 30-25 late in the 4th quarter and forced a Jake Elliot field goal to make it 33-25 with little time remaining in the game. Taylor drove the Giants downfield and pushed them to around the Eagles 30-yard line with 3 seconds remaining. The Giants’ third-string QB then threw up a prayer in the endzone that was picked off by the Eagles’ 4th round draft pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Cornerback Kelee Ringo.

The ending may not have been pretty by Philadelphia, but they led by at least 9 points for most of the game. Compared to their previous games, this is an accomplishment. It would have been nice to lead by more throughout the game especially since they played New York, but you cannot complain with a comfortable lead for almost the entirety of the game.

Surprisingly, the Eagles’ offense played very well. Critics may go back and mention the pick-six thrown by Jalen Hurts, but in actuality, it was a good throw and Dallas Goedert just tripped. Hurts responded by driving downfield and scoring a touchdown the next drive. Hurts threw for 301 yards and 1 touchdown to DeVonta Smith. Jalen also ran for 34 yards and ran for a touchdown, which broke the single-season NFL record for most rushing touchdowns by a QB. He ran for his 15th of the year, 1 more than Cam Newton did in 2011.

D’Andre Swift also ran for an outstanding 92 yards in 20 rushes with 1 touchdown. Boston Scott was replaced as the Giant-Killer by Swift.

The Eagles now hold the number 1 seed in the NFC East and lead by 1 game over the now 10-5 Dallas Cowboys. The Birds control their own destiny to home-field advantage in the playoffs. If they beat Arizona on New Year’s Eve and New York again in Week 18 they will be a top-4 seed. However, depending on how Detroit and San Francisco play their final 2 weeks, the top seed in the NFC doesn’t seem too far away.