Philadelphia at New York Giants
Time: NOON (EST), FOX
Spread: PHI -4
Total: 44.5
Odds c/o 5dimes
The Philadelphia Eagles find itself 3-4-1 as it enters this week’s matchup on the road against the New York Giants. Philly is a 4-point favorite over New York, with the over-under set at 44.5 total points according to NFL oddsmakers at 5dimes. The game will kick-off at Noon (EST) on FOX.
PHI
After a tough start that saw the team wait until Week 4 for its first win, the Philadelphia Eagles have begun to come around. It was just 1-4-1 after Week 6, but since it has won two straight with wins over the Giants and the Dallas Cowboys. It finds itself again playing the Giants, whom it defeated 22-21 in the previous matchup, which was played in Philadelphia. It is now, also, road favorites. The Eagles are just 1-2 on the road thus far this season.
Carson Wentz had a tough start to his 2020 season by throwing equally as many picks (12) as touchdowns. He has been sacked four times a game on average and lost 219 yards. His passer rating is just 73.2, though he does have 1,8883 yards on the season. It has not gone well. He has been passably saved by a decent backfield and some quality rushes of his own.
Wentz ranks No. 2 in yardage at 202 this season, and he leads in rushing touchdowns (five). Lead backfield option Miles Sanders averages an outstanding 6.1 yards-per-attempt, but he has just three touchdowns. He and Wentz are tied with 20 rushes for first downs, but they have little help outside of Boston Scott, who is not a big playmaker, and averages just 3.8 yards-per-attempt.
Jalen Hurts lingers in tutelage, but he has had some nice rushes this season including three of his nine carries being for a first down. The top receiver has been Travis Fulgham who has 29 catches for 435 yards and four touchdowns. He leads the team in total yardage and scores, but it is Greg Ward who leads in total receptions (32) and is tied for the lead with 45 targeted passes. Tight End Zach Ertz is the other with 45, though he averages just 7.4 yards per reception. Ertz also has just one TD catch thus far.
NYG
The New York Giants are 2-7 this season and just 1-3 at home where it hosts Philadelphia as home underdogs this week. The Giants are led by an intriguing QB in Daniel Jones, but the Duke product has had his struggles thus far in the NFL. Jones has a strong arm and is also flight afoot, a dual-threat, but one whose offensive line has not provided a ton of protection nor blocking help. Even so, Jones has rushed for a team-best 320 yards with an outstanding average of eight yards-per-carry. He has an 80-yard rush to his credit, along with 12 first downs, but he has not rushed for any touchdowns, yet. Jones has completed 62.4 percent of his looks, but he has also thrown nine interceptions and been sacked over 3 times per game on average. None of his backfield options are doing much, either.
The Giants still average 4.5 yards-per-carry, but leading rusher Wayne Gallman is averaging just 4.4 yards-per-carry this season, though he does lead in first downs (16). Darius Clayton and tight end Evan Engram have done the bulk of the receiving work with some 800-plus yards and four touchdowns between them. The other WR Sterling Shepard has caught 28 passes for 248 yards and one touchdown, while Golden Tate has caught 22 of 29 targeted looks for 226 yards and two touchdowns.
Saquon Barkley, now out for the year, was not effective this season and rushed just 19 times and caught six passes. Barkley rushed for 1,307 yards in 2018 and 1,003 in 2019, while averaging 5.0 and 4.6 yards-per-carry. This year he averaged just 1.8 per-attempt, and his season-ending injury means that this will again be a rebuilding year for the Giants. Losing Nick Bosa is at least equally as large a disaster for the Giants. Developing Jones without those talents is something of a crapshoot, though the Giants should be well suited for advancement with more young talent headed its way in the draft. While two injuries should never collapse a team’s hopes really, it nearly has for the hapless Giants.
