Giants look to apply lessons learned in third meeting with Eagles

The Giants won their first playoff game in 11 years on Sunday. They knocked off a team that had beaten them just three weeks earlier and had lost only four times all season long. They did it on the road, in a hostile, loud, indoor stadium.

Now comes the hard part.

If the Giants are going to continue their miracle run through the playoffs, they're going to have to do it against the team that spent the season as the most dominant team in the NFC. The Philadelphia Eagles (14-3) are as good a team as there is in football, with a top-ranked offense and a defense that had a ridiculous 70 sacks. They're a team that went 13-1 before quarterback Jalen Hurts injured his shoulder — a run that included a 48-22 drubbing of the Giants at the Meadowlands in a game that wasn't even that close.

It would take a stunning reversal of fortunes for the Giants (10-7-1) to flip the script of that game, in which the Eagles literally ran all over them, racking up 253 yards on the ground.

[Giants make noise in Bucky Brooks' playoff power rankings]

So can they do it? Can they beat the Eagles in the divisional round on Saturday night in Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field?

"We have a lot of work to do," Giants coach Brian Daboll said moments after the Giants beat the Vikings 31-24 on Sunday to set up their rematch with the Eagles. "Go back, look at his tape, correct what we need to correct. We've got a lot of work to do."

Yes, they do, and even though Daboll called it "enjoyable work," it won't be fun to look back on that loss from Dec. 11. Yes, the Giants also played the Eagles in the season finale, losing only 22-16 in Philadelphia. But there isn't a lot to really be learned from that game. The Giants played almost none of their starters, and while they did fight hard, they were down 19-0 until the final minute of the third quarter when the Eagles clearly pulled in the reins.

And for the Eagles, that game was Hurts' first game back after missing two weeks with the sprained SC joint in his right shoulder. Because of that, they called only one running play for him, which took away a huge chunk of their regular offense. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni's plan going in was to be as basic as possible, to protect Hurts and to do just enough to beat the Giants' second-stringers — which is exactly what they did.

So the real way to measure these teams is from that first matchup. And here are some of the things that will jump out when the Giants re-watch the film of their worst performance of the year:

• The Eagles ran for those 253 yards, including 144 from running back Miles Sanders (on 17 carries, 8.5 yards per rush) and 77 from Hurts (on seven carries, 11 yards per rush). That's bad, but it's worse considering 192 rushing yards came in the second half when the Eagles were sitting on a 24-7 lead and the Giants knew they were going to run.
• Hurts was unstoppable through the air in the first half, when he was 17-of-24 for 171 yards and two touchdowns. He completed nine of his first 10 passes and threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith on a 4th-and-7 play in the second quarter.
• Smith and A.J. Brown combined for seven catches, 106 yards and two touchdowns in the first half before the Eagles basically stopped throwing. Hurts only dropped back nine times to throw in the second half.
• The Eagles had seven sacks and hit the Giants quarterbacks 12 times. They also had 10 tackles for losses and three deflected passes. Three of their sacks came in the final six minutes when Giants backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor had replaced Daniel Jones.
• Special teams was a nightmare for the Giants too. Punter Jamie Gillan dropped a snap and tried to kick the ball off a bounce — an illegal kick that caused a 10-yard penalty and set the Eagles up for their third touchdown. And Giant-killer Boston Scott averaged 39 yards on his three kickoff returns, including a 66-yarder in the second quarter.

None of that is good. All of it is concerning, even if Daboll doesn't seem worried at all.

"Every game is a new game," Daboll said on Monday. "One week really has nothing to do with the next week. One game has nothing to do with the next game. You take things from it, you learn from it, you try to grow from it, but it's going to be how we execute on Saturday."

There are some positive things the Giants can take from that film, though most of it has to do with things that weren't on the field. They played without cornerback Adoree' Jackson, who was so instrumental in shutting down Minnesota's Justin Jefferson on Sunday. They were also missing safety Xavier McKinney, who made the game-ending tackle against the Vikings, and defensive lineman Leonard Williams too.

And that game also was played a few days after Saquon Barkley mysteriously popped onto the Giants' injury report with a neck injury. He was clearly limited in the game, rushing just nine times for 28 yards and catching two passes for 20 yards. His last touch came with 6:15 left in the third quarter.

Barkley is clearly healthier now, as he showed with his 109 total yards and two touchdowns against the Vikings. The Giants' defense is much better with Jackson, McKinney and Williams. And really, the Giants are just a better overall team since Dec. 11.  They've gone 3-1 since then, not including the finale when almost none of their starters played.

And the way Jones has played since then has been particularly impressive. Jones was a middling 18 of 27 for 169 yards and a touchdown, while running just four times for 26 yards in that first game. Since then, he's averaged 243 passing yards and 59.5 rushing yards per game in five starts, throwing five touchdown passes with just one interception. He's even rushed for 169 yards in his last two games.

So the Giants may not have been much of a match for the Eagles in mid-December, but there's no doubt this is a different Giants team.

"I'd say you try to evolve after every game," Daboll said. "I think we've gotten a little bit better every week. But what's going to matter is how we play on Saturday."

The Giants should play a lot better than they did five weeks ago. They'll have to in order to have any chance to advance.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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