Eagles Schedule Preview 2018: New York Giants

Bleeding Green Nation’s game-by-game preview of the Eagles’ 2018 schedule continues today with Philadelphia’s Week 6 (and Week 12) opponent: the New York Giants. (Week 5 preview is here.)

I’ll be honest. The New York Giants had a great offseason.

If you’re an Eagles fan, that is.

A team that went 3-13 last year doubled down on their obviously declining 37-year-old quarterback and hired one of the least inspiring coaches I’ve personally ever been around to lead the organization back to glory. What could go wrong!

Some might think I’m underselling the G-Men due to the presence of their offensive weapons. Getting Odell Beckham Jr. back healthy to pair with the likes of Saquon Barkley, Sterling Shepard, Evan Engram, etc. does look nice on paper. But, as we saw in 2017, their skill players can be mitigated by a porous offensive line that features some of the least continuity in the NFL. It’s hard to feel great about Eli Manning in that situation.

While the Barkley selection did likely make the Giants better in the short-term, it also illustrated Dave Gettleman’s shortcomings as a general manager. There’s a very strong argument against taking running backs that high in the draft. Especially when, you know, you’re a team in need of a new franchise quarterback.

I just don’t think the Giants got this offseason right. I’m still very unimpressed by them.

Now, with that said, they did put up a good fight against the Eagles in both games last year. Manning had two of his best games of the season, which was annoying. Jim Schwartz seemingly didn’t have an answer for New York’s quick passing attack. Hopefully the Birds don’t find themselves dealing with the same struggles in 2018.

As a friendly reminder, the Eagles are 16-4 in their last 20 games against NYG.

Here’s a more in-depth look at the Giants from our SB Nation colleagues over at Big Blue View.

Notable free agent additions: Nate Solder, Patrick Omameh, Jonathan Stewart, Kareem Martin, William Gay

Over / under: 6.5 wins: Over. The Giants should not have been a 3-win team a year ago, but it was the perfect storm of injuries and coaching incompetence. They, hopefully, will be healthier. And they appear to be better coached. I don’t see them as an 11-12-win team, but I see them as a competitive team that should be in the playoff mix.

Rookie I’m most excited about: Saquon Barkley. There shouldn’t really be a need to explain. This is Saquon Barkley, best player in the 2018 draft class.

Best position battle heading into camp: Either the four-way battle at free safety or the competition at center between Brett Jones and Jon Halapio.

Biggest storyline heading into camp: Were the Giants right to go all-in on Eli Manning rather than drafting a QB and beginning a true rebuild? That, really, is the question that the entirety of the season will answer.

Under-the-radar storyline heading into camp: It’s not really under the radar, but I’ll say the Odell Beckham contract situation. Will he get a new deal? When? How much?

Notable injuries heading into training camp: None, really.