An inside look at Sunday’s NFC Giants-Eagles divisional round game in Philadelphia:
Tagging match
Eagles C Jason Kelce vs. Giants DT Dexter Lawrence
It will be hard to take your eyes off this heavyweight fight. The 342-pound Lawrence says the 282-pound Kelce is “small and scrawny.” In the only meeting between these quarterbacks this season, Lawrence had three hurries and a quarterback hit in the Eagles’ easy win.
“He had a great year and he’s a great player,” Kelce said. There’s a 10-year age difference — Kelce is 35, Lawrence is 25 — and Kelce has all the tricks of the trade.
“He knows how to put his body in a good position,” Lawrence said. “He knows how to manipulate the D-linemen and the guards do a good job of hitting and helping when he needs it.”
Jason Kells Getty Images Dexter Lawrence Cory Sipkin
Paul’s choice
The Giants are tall and brimming with confidence, but it will take their most effective and gutsy performance to overcome this. There are many ways the Eagles can dominate, offensively and defensively. Probably too many ways for the Giants to handle.
Eagles 27, Giants 19
Four falls
One that got away: Shortly after Joe Schoen was hired as the Giants’ general manager, he knew the first order of business from a personnel perspective was to fix the painful salary cap situation. Schoen didn’t want to get rid of James Bradbury, the best cornerback on the roster, but he had no luck on the trade market and desperately needed the $10.1 million in cap space created by releasing Bradbury, who immediately signed a one-year deal with Eagles worth up to $10 million.
How did that work out? That season, Bradbury had the third-lowest passer rating allowed in the NFL (55.9) with a minimum of 50 targets. He had the third most pass breakups (17). The giants? They struggled to find consistency with a group of cornerbacks released by other teams, especially when Adoree’ Jackson missed seven games with a sprained knee.
Dominant Unit: There’s really no way around it. The Eagles can impose their will and take over a game with their defense. Some of the numbers they put out are wild. They set a single-season franchise record with 70 sacks. Since 1982, when sacks were recognized as an official statistic, only two teams — the 1984 Bears (72) and the 1989 Vikings (71) — have amassed more. This is a group to spread chaos. The Eagles are the only team to have four players with 10-plus sacks in the same season: Haason Reddick (16.0), Brandon Graham (11.0), Javon Hargrave (11.0) and Josh Sweat (11.0). ridiculous.
Big Game Hunters: There’s something about the Giants and the postseason and taking out the top dog. The NFL restructured the playoff system in 1990, and since then the Giants have played against the No. 1 seed in the playoffs six times. They are 6-0. That six-game winning streak against a No. 1 seed is the longest by any NFL team since the league began seeding teams in the playoffs in 1975. The Eagles, of course, are the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Target practice: Jalen Hurts missed two games (the Eagles lost both) with a sprained right shoulder, and he was asked if he believed the Giants would target that part of his body.
“There’s a reward for me every week,” he said, and vowed to do his job by scrambling and running — he’s gained 760 rushing yards this season.
“Me being quick on the edge, you see around the league people scheme against big players,” rookie Kyvon Thibodeau said. “So of course teams are going to think against him as one of the best defenders in the league. And I’d say for us, we’ve just got to do what we can to keep him.”
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