I feel like, at this point, the Eagles are in the process of filming a reboot of The Replacements. I’ve been watching these games and Carson Wentz will be throwing touchdowns to made-up guys named Jason Croom.
With so many of their star players riddled with injuries, there are a lot of players who would normally not get a chance to play, but athletes like Travis Fulgham are getting the opportunity to show what they got and earn their time on the field. The next stretch of their schedule should give the team some motivation to scoot up top of the NFC (L)east and it starts against the New York Giants on Thursday Night Football. In recent years, the Eagles have dominated this rivalry by winning their past seven meetings, but the Giants are headed into Philly with a boost of confidence. Both teams aren’t well equipped at the moment so it’ll be interesting to see how this game pans out.
Led by Bucks County native Joe Judge, the Giants had finally ended their losing streak in Week 6 by defeating Washington 20-19. The matchup that’s probably the most anticipated is wide receiver Darius Slay vs Darius Slay(ton). Slayton leads NYG in every receiving related category and has all three of their receiving touchdowns. Long story short... Slayton is clearly their best wide receiver. So far this season, Slayton has recorded 25 receptions, 406 receiving yards, 16.2 YPC, and three touchdowns. He was dominant in his two games against the Eagles in 2019, catching nine balls for 204 yards and two touchdowns.
New York's cornerback position has been a little messy this season. With Sam Beal opting out for the year and DeAndre Baker being waived due to an offseason arrest, they’ve had to rely on James Bradberry and Ryan Lewis. This season Bradberry has a pair of interceptions and is tied for the NFL lead with 10 pass breakups, while Lewis has zero interceptions and just one pass breakup.
Carson Wentz and Daniel Jones have been struggling all year with high numbers of turnovers and interceptions, but they have been impressive in the rushing game. Wentz is coming off a 49 yard, one touchdown performance, and has already a total of 171 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns on the season. On the other hand, Jones has 204 yards on the ground coming off a career-long 49-yard run last Sunday.
The Eagles' best receiver this season is easily Travis Fulgham. DeSean Jackson will be returning for the game, but he should not impact Fulgham's snaps in this matchup. Fulgham has shown more in three games (18 receptions, 284 yards, and three touchdowns) than Jackson or Alshon Jeffery has shown since the beginning of the 2019 season.
Fans should expect Josh Sweat and Derek Barnett to be paired up with first-round tackle Andrew Thomas, who has been underperforming so far in his rookie season. Sweat and Barnett are second and third on the team in sacks with 3.0 and 2.5 respectively. With Thomas struggling, they should have no problem getting to quarterback Daniel Jones.
On the other side of the d-line, Brandon Graham is having a career year. With 5.0 sacks, eight tackles for loss, and nine QB hits he’s looking to continue his dominance on Thursday Night against an underwhelming Cameron Fleming.
The Eagles' biggest strength is their defensive line, but their weakest is obviously their linebackers. Thankfully, the linebackers should not be any concern this week because the Giants do not have the weapons to exploit them like the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens did.
These next few games should be easy wins for the Eagles, but this season has been far from easy for the Birds, so we shall see if they'll step up to the occasion. Kickoff is slated for 8:20PM on Thursday.
