Fourth Quarter
Here we are, the final stretch. The Eagles have only had two division games up to this point, with four games left to play. That means that the final four games will all be division games, this stretch will either cement their place at the top of the NFC East and dethrone the hated Cowboys, or prove their early season success to be a fluke. Let’s take a look at how it will shape out.
December 9th – Home vs Giants
2018 Ranks:
- Passing offense: 11th
- Rushing offense: 24th
- Passing defense: 23rd
- Rushing defense: 20th
Key additions: Quarterback Daniel Jones (first round draft pick), safety Jabrill Peppers (trade – Browns), guard Kevin Zeitler (trade – Browns), wide receiver Golden Tate (free agency – Eagles), defensive end Markus Golden (free agency – Cardinals), safety Antoine Bethea (free agency – Cardinals), defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence (first round draft pick), cornerback Deandre Baker (first round draft pick)
Key departures: Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (trade – Browns), defensive end Olivier Vernon (trade – Browns), safety Landon Collins (free agency – Redskins)
Battling Miami for the number one overall pick in 2020 may be the New York Giants. This team is…how do you put it..oh yeah… a dumpster fire.
Let’s start with this:
Gettleman: We didn’t sign Odell to trade him.
— New York Giants (@Giants) January 2, 2019
This is a quote from general manager Dave Gettleman in January after asking about the Odell Beckham Jr. trade rumors that were surfacing after the season ended. The “sign him” reference is the five-year extension the Giants signed Beckham to in August of 2018.
Now let’s look at this:
Breaking: Odell Beckham Jr. has been traded to the Browns, sources confirmed to @AdamSchefter. The deal was first reported by NFL Network. pic.twitter.com/nynEYnDvdO
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 13, 2019
How’d that age, Dave?
The Giants got rid of their star wide receiver over the offseason and replaced him with an older slot receiver in Golden Tate. Look Golden, we will always be grateful for the big catches you had as an Eagle during the season and postseason, especially this:
Golden Tate was not letting go of that ball ?
(via @thecheckdown)pic.twitter.com/oLulr3mwGI
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 6, 2019
But deciding to go to the Giants when you said you wanted to win? We’re skeptical of that.
They also decided not to tender a contract to safety Landon Collins, and replace him with a similar, yet younger, version of him in Jabrill Peppers. Peppers pretty much did everything that Collins did for the Giants, not as successful though. Peppers lined up at linebacker, edge rusher, and slot corner last season and earned a 77.6 grade from ProFootballFocus, 17.1 points better than his rookie year.
Collins, on the other hand, has accumulated 149 defensive stops since 2015, 13 more than Malcolm Jenkins in that time frame. Although not a traditional safety, the Giants will definitely miss his dynamic playmaking ability.
Also missing from the defense is defensive end Olivier Vernon, who was sent to the Browns in a separate trade for guard Kevin Zeitler. The Giants were obviously prioritizing protecting Eli Manning this season over having playmakers on offense and defense.
The Giants did draft two of the highest rated corners in the draft, Deandre Baker and Julian Love, so their secondary should continue to be average, but the loss of Collins and Vernon makes this defense very vulnerable.
Back to the offense. The Giants drafted Duke quarterback Daniel Jones to be the heir to Eli Manning’s throne, but all indications are that it won’t be long until it’s Jones under center over Manning. This won’t be a Geno Smith situation where incompetent head coach Ben McAdoo started Smith over Manning in December of 2017, thus ending Manning’s streak of consecutive starts at 210.
This game will almost certainly be against Jones. Being a December game, in a season where the Giants aren’t expected to go anywhere, there’s no reason to start Eli. The only way he gets this start is if sophomore phenom running back Saquon Barkley continues his tear through the NFL and puts the Giants on his back as he did in 2018, where he had 1,307 yards rushing and 721 yards receiving as a rookie. If the Eagles can contain him, which was impossible in 2018, they’ll be in good shape, even with Sterling Shepard primed to be the next Giants star wide receiver.
Even with the new Giants offensive line (Zeitler was ProFootballFocus’ best pass blocking guard in 2018), the Eagles’ defensive line will still have their way and force Daniel Jones to be uncomfortable all game. Expect Barkley to have another 100-yard rushing game, but also expect the trend of Giants losses to the Eagles to continue.
December 15th – Away at Redskins
In the second game of the head to head match up, the Eagles travel to Landover, Maryland to play at FedEx Field.
The Redskins are tied with the Patriots (really?) with the NFL’s easiest schedule going into 2019, based on last year’s records. It’s entirely possible that the Redskins are still relevant at this point in the season, making this game a must win for the Eagles. Looking at the Redskins schedule, and knowing that they will have a very good defense (even without Reuben Foster), I can see them having 6-8 wins going into this game.
The Eagles have won the last two games at FedEx Field and with this game being so important, I expect them to make a statement going into the next week’s game against Dallas that they are the epitome of the NFC. Eagles sweep the Redskins.
December 22nd – Home vs Cowboys
The Linc will be PACKED for this game, no doubt about that. A late December game for the two rivals, with the division and playoffs most likely on the line for one of these teams, you won’t be able to hear yourself think with all the noise going on.
The Cowboys are tied for the 14th hardest schedule going into 2019, so there’s a good chance this is more of a must-win for them rather than the Eagles. Looking at their schedule, I only see seven slam dunk wins for them, with six others being toss-ups, and one being a loss (their earlier Eagles game). Let’s say their record is 8-7 going into this one, they’ll be facing a must win to keep their Wild Card hopes alive.
Under my scenarios, the Eagles will be 12-2 going into this one, with a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs either secured already or secured with a win here. So this game is equally as important for both squads.
The big question mark for this game is whether or not Ezekiel Elliot will be playing in this game, since the league may suspend him for his off the field conduct a few weeks ago. I fully expect him to play, but the possibility is there.
In the end, expect a bruising game, with Demarcus Lawrence still not able to get a sack on Lane Johnson, but with the Cowboys being victorious. The two teams split the season series, with both away teams winning. Reminiscent of the 2013-2015 seasons where the away team won six straight matchups.
December 29th – Away at Giants
The final game of the season. Going into this game, under my scenarios, the Eagles are 12-3. They could have clinched home field advantage and/or a first-round bye at this point, or this game could be a win and number one seed scenario. I’m going to guess that this will be the latter.
However, even with this being a “must-win” for the Eagles to get home field and the bye, I don’t expect Doug Pederson to treat this game as such. The Eagles have such a deep and talented roster that their backups should still be able to do the job against Daniel Jones and the Giants.
Expect Wentz to play the first half of this game and go into halftime with a nice lead for back up Nate Sudfeld to protect and lead the Eagles to a first-round bye and the number one seed in the NFC.
Fourth “Quarter” record: 3-1
Regular season record: 13-3
