Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants Pick 12/29/19

Philadelphia Eagles (8-7 SU, 6-9 ATS) vs. New York Giants (4-11 SU, 7-8 ATS)

NFL Week 17

Date/Time: Sunday, December 29, 2019 at 4:25PM EST
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Where: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

TV: Fox

Point Spread: PHI -4.5/NYG +4.5 (Bovada – Deposit $100 and get $50 Free! Get rebates on every bet; win or lose!)

Over/Under Total: 45

The Philadelphia Eagles take on the New York Giants in week 17 NFC East action from East Rutherford. It’s a big game for Philly, as they can get to 9-7 this week and take down the NFC East division with a win this week or if the Cowboys lose. To do so, they’ll have to beat a division rival whom they struggled against a few weeks ago. Still, Philly showed a lot of fire last week with a huge 17-9 win over the Cowboys to put themselves in the driver’s seat. Despite being at the end of a long and trying season that has yielded a mere four wins, to their credit, the Giants aren’t laying down, Let’s see what we can come up with in this Week 17 showdown at MetLife Stadium.

Playoff Implications

The Eagles control their own destiny, as a win locks up the NFC East division and gets the Eagles into the playoffs once again. The only way they would miss the postseason is if they lost this game, and Dallas beat the Redskins on Sunday. But they won’t be banking on a Dallas slip up, as they will be looking to deal with this on their own. And while it certainly seems doable, we’re still dealing with a highly-imperfect team in a division where it almost seems like no one wants to win it this season. Be that as it may, Sunday’s win was their third in a row, showing they are at least going for it late. It just hasn’t been easy all season for Philly, and this one might follow suit.

What a Few Weeks Ago Tells Us…

A week 14 overtime battle in Philly was won by the Eagles, 23-17. With Eli Manning back behind center for the Giants, they saw a little spurt, jumping out to a 17-3 halftime lead, before the Eagles stormed back to send it to overtime with a late Carson Wentz TD connection to Zach Ertz. They connected again in overtime, and it was another hard-earned win for the Eagles. It shows they match up well, through Daniel Jones is back starting at QB for New York. Plus, the stakes are higher for the Eagles, though that first divisional matchup was an urgent game for them, as well.

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The Eagles’ Fighting Spirit

Nothing has come easy for the Eagles this season, and they really have to scrap to get to where they want to go. And for the past month, they’ve done just that; Clawing to a spot where they now control their future. We saw this last season, as they struggled to defend their Super Bowl crown, needing a late-season surge to get in, where they even won a playoff game. We’re seeing it again this season as they grind their way to the postseason. A downside to all this is that they’re not equipped to put distance even on 4-win teams like the Giants. Whatever they do, it’s going to be a struggle against a team that really pushed them to the limits in Philly last time.

Can the Giants Play the Spoiler Role?

Winners of two straight, some things shake out decently for that to happen. They were tough against Philly, and not much has changed the last two weeks. In returning for the first time last week, Jones had the game of his life in throwing five TDs on 352 yards passing. Saquon Barkley is in his best form of the season, coming off two straight big games and a huge showing last week with 189 yards on the ground, 90 through the air, and two touchdowns. And while their defense has been largely-exploitable this season, they matched up well against the Eagles a few weeks back, as Philly had a mere field goal until very late in the third quarter. Being at home is a more-negligible edge. In fact, it hasn’t helped the Giants this season, as their win over Miami at home a few weeks ago was the first time they covered at home since week four.

The Fallacy of Urgency

Urgency is an interesting factor, one that often leads people astray who overplay it. First of all, the teams who have urgency are urgent for a reason, and that’s usually because they’re not very good. If Philly were a good team, they would have put this away weeks ago. So yes, now they’re urgent, but because they struggle in spots like this. They’re even worse on the road and Wentz for some reason really struggles away from home.

While the Eagles have done well to get to this spot and last week was an inspirational win, there are certain football-realities that cannot be bucked. And for the Eagles, a good defense isn’t always supported by the other side of the ball. There has been no Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor (questionable), or DeSean Jackson. On Sunday, it got uglier, with Zach Ertz going down with a broken rib and JJ Arcega-Whiteside exiting with a foot injury. Both are questionable, but some cars conk out right before they get to their destination.

Take the Points

I could be off my rocker on this one. Philly fought hard the last several weeks, and to see it potentially crash and burn to a 4-win Giants team mired in all kinds of dysfunction seems like a psycho concept. I just don’t see anything coming that easy for a Philly team whose offense no longer resembles what they had in mind earlier in the season. I see the Giants’ offense being in much better shape, and while the Eagles’ defense will play a significant role, I see a tough game to call in where points might be hard to come by. I’ll take the home-dog.

Loot’s Pick to Cover the Point Spread: I’m betting on the New York Giants plus 4.5 points.