NFL Picks 10/20 – Philadelphia Eagles vs New York Giants

NFL Picks 10/20 – Philadelphia Eagles vs New York Giants

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

Week Seven brings us a battle between long-time NFC East division rivals as the Philadelphia Eagles (3-2) visit the New York Giants (2-4) on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium. Philadelphia has won five of the last six against New York dating back to the 2021 season. One of those victories was a 38-7 rout of the Giants in the divisional round of the 2022-23 playoffs at Philadelphia. The Giants hammered the visiting Eagles 27-10 the last time these teams faced each other in the final week of last season. Philadelphia is a 3-point favorite and the total is 43. 

Philadelphia is coming off a 20-16 win against the lowly Cleveland Browns at home last week. Jalen Hurts completed 16 of 25 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns in the win. Wide Receiver A.J. Brown caught nine passes for 116 yards and a touchdown in his first game since Week 1. Brown missed the previous three games due to a hamstring injury. The Eagles defense sacked Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson five times.

New York dropped a 17-7 decision to the visiting Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday Night Football last week. The Giants were unable to generate any offense against a Bengals defense that was giving up 29 points per game. Daniel Jones completed 22 of 41 passes for 205 yards and an interception. He also rushed for a team-high 56 yards on 11 carries. The Giants unheralded defense sacked Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow four times and held the Bengals red-hot offense to just 17 points. The Bengals were averaging 37.6 ppg over their previous three games heading into the Giants game. 

NFL Picks 10/20 – Philadelphia Eagles vs New York Giants

Sunday’s game will feature an intriguing backstory as Eagles running back Saquon Barkley will face the Giants for the first time since signing with the Eagles as a free agent last March. The Giants drafted Barkley second overall in the 2018 NFL draft. Barkley went on to have a stellar rookie season where he rushed for 1,307 yards and 11 touchdowns. He added 721 receiving yards and 4 touchdown catches as he was named the 2018 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Barkley accumulated 5,211 rushing yards and scored 47 touchdowns in his six seasons with the Giants.

GAME STORYLINES: PHILADELPHIA 

Two years ago, the Philadelphia Eagles had a historic season as they won a franchise-record 14 games and made it to the Super Bowl where they narrowly lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 38-35. Quarterback Jalen Hurts finished second in MVP voting after passing for 3,722 yards with 22 touchdowns to 6 interceptions. He added 760 rushing yards with 13 rushing touchdowns. The Eagles defense finished with a franchise record 70 sacks in 2022.

Despite the tough loss in the Super Bowl, Philadelphia did not appear to suffer from the ‘Super Bowl Curse’ as they started last season 10-1 and appeared to be headed back to the Super Bowl. But they proceeded to drop 5 of their last 6 games last season to finish 11-6. They limped into the playoffs as the No. 5 seed and suffered an embarrassing 32-9 loss at Tampa Bay in the Wild Card round. The good feelings surrounding the Eagles has quickly evaporated as quarterback Jalen Hurts and head coach Nick Sirianni are now facing intense scrutiny from Eagle fans and the media.

After the stunning end to the 2023 season, the Eagles made a big splash in free agency when they signed star running back Saquon Barkley to a 3-year, $37.7 million contract. Signing with the Eagles represents a homecoming for the 27-year-old Barkley who was a three-year starter for Whitehall High School in his native Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania where he was named the 2014 Mr. Pennsylvania for football before starring at Penn State for 3 years.  

NFL Picks 10/20 – Philadelphia Eagles vs New York Giants

Saquon Barkley’s Eagles career got off to a tremendous start as he rushed for 109 yards on 24 carries with 3 total touchdowns in the season-opening 34-29 win against Green Bay. On the season, Barkley has 482 rushing yards, 5 total touchdowns and is averaging 5.3 yards per carry through 5 games. He ranks fourth in rushing yards. 

Jalen Hurts (1,194 passing yards, 6 touchdowns to 4 interceptions on 67.5% completions, 196 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns) — along with head coach Nick Sirianni — has drawn the ire of some fans and the media with the way last season ended and the 2 losses this season. But Hurts has thrown two touchdowns in the 2 games in which his top wideouts A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith have both played. He’s thrown a total of three touchdown in the Eagles other 3 games. This may indicate that Hurts could get back to his 2022 MVP-esque form if Brown and Smith remain healthy for the rest of the year.  

GAME STORYLINES: NEW YORK

The New York Giants surprised a lot of NFL folks when they selected Duke quarterback Daniel Jones with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. It may have been an even bigger surprise when New York made the decision to ink him to a massive 4-year, $160 million contract extension in May 2023 after four uneven years where Jones has shown glimpses of greatness and inconsistency. 

The 27-year-old Daniel Jones penchant for showing equal amounts of greatness and inconsistency has been on full display in 2024 through 6 games as he’s thrown for 6 touchdowns and no interceptions in 3 games against Washington, Cleveland and Seattle. But has no touchdowns and 4 interceptions against Minnesota, Dallas and Cincinnati. Overall, Jones has passed for 1,343 yards with 6 touchdowns to 4 interceptions with 196 rushing yards while completing 62.1 percent of his throws. 

After finishing 6-11 last season, New York ended up with the sixth overall pick in the draft and selected prolific LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers. Nabers entered the NFL with tremendous hype after he led the SEC in catches (89) and yards (1,569) last season with LSU. Nabers has exceeded the lofty expectations through the early part of his rookie campaign as he’s amassed 35 catches for 386 yards in 4 games. He’s averaging 96.5 receiving yards per game. Nabers missed the last 2 games after suffering a concussion against Dallas on Sept. 26 but he’s expected to return against Philadelphia on Sunday.

NFL Picks 10/20 – Philadelphia Eagles vs New York Giants

The Giants defense doesn’t get much national attention but they’ve quietly been one of the best in the NFL up to this point. Their 26 sacks ranks second to Denver’s 28, and they’ll likely reclaim the top spot after Sunday’s game due to Denver playing on Thursday night in New Orleans. The Giants have at least four sacks in 5 of their 6 games. Their ability to pounce on opposing quarterbacks is reminiscent of elite Giant defenses of the past that featured the likes of Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson, Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora. 

Leading the way for the Giants unheralded defense is All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II. The 26-year-old Clemson product has 19 tackles, 7 sacks and 5 tackles for loss through 6 games. Lawrence’s 7 sacks ranks second in the NFL. Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Burns (23 tackles, 3 sacks, 5 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumbles in 6 games this season) safety Jason Pinnock (28 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 tackles for loss in 6 games) and cornerback Deonte Banks (26 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 forced fumble in 6 games) are key contributors alongside Lawrence. 

THE PICK: EAGLES (-3)

The Eagles will have their full complement of offensive skill positions players for this one. Hurts has been excellent when he has them. The Giants could be missing multiple key players on defense which may play right into the Eagles strengths. Lay the Points…Eagles 21, Giants 13