Eagles blow out the Giants to officially clinch playoff spot, 48 to 22

The Philadelphia Eagles are 12-1 after defeating the New York Giants in North Jersey on Sunday afternoon! Final score: 48 to 22.

With the win, the Eagles officially clinched a spot in the 2023 NFL playoffs.

Wow.

Put simply, the Eagles kicked the crap out of the Giants on Sunday afternoon.

The Giants entered this game with the NFL’s best record against the spread. They hadn’t lost a game by more than 14 points. Their average margin of defeat was 10.5 points. They had a reputation for playing above their talent level and hanging around in games.

Not the case in this one.

The Eagles dominated this one from the jump.

The offense basically scored at will. Jalen Hurts was awesome. He is undoubtedly this team’s franchise quarterback. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith could not be stopped. Miles Sanders ran all over the Giants’ defense. The offensive line kicked ass.

The defense came up with big stops. Jonathan Gannon’s unit allowed one legit touchdown drive to the Giants; the other came when they took over on the 15-yard line after a blocked punt.

This was a flat out impressive showing by the Birds. Especially one week after they bullied the Tennessee Titans.

The Eagles look like a team that everyone else should be scared to play.

Next up on the Eagles’ three-game road trip is a matchup against a Chicago Bears team that will be coming off their bye week.

Read on for a recap and stay tuned for BGN’s postgame coverage, including the BGN Radio postgame show!

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FIRST QUARTER

• The Eagles won the coin toss and elected to defer, as they always do. The Giants picked up a first down but then got set back with a Josh Sweat sack. Impressive by Sweat to beat Andrew Thomas on that play. Then a Haason Reddick sack on 3rd-and-17 forced a Giants punt. Strong start by the defense!

• The Eagles started at their own 16-yard line. The first play of the game was Jalen Hurts completion to ... Grant Calcaterra! ... for 13 yards. The Eagles slowly drove into Giants territory. Hurts threw short of an open A.J. Brown while rolling to the left and then did the Donovan McNabb pat chest after the play. A screen to Boston Scott brought up 3rd-and-6. On third down, Hurts targeted DeVonta Smith, who made a tough contested catch in a tight window. Nice throw and great grab. The Eagles got to 3rd-and-6 and Hurts threw short of the sticks to A.J. Brown ... but there was a flag on the Giants for illegal contact. After entering this game with three career catches, Calcaterra caught his second target for another first down. Brown made a catch on a tight window throw from Hurts to bring up 3rd-and-1 from the 3-yard line. From there, Miles Sanders took his third carry up the gap for a relatively easy touchdown. His tenth of the season after having zero last year! Great drive by the offense with basically everyone contributing! Seven different players with a reception. EAGLES 7, GIANTS 0.

• The Eagles allowed a 13-yard run up the middle to Gary Brightwell. T.J. Edwards made a great open field tackle on a Richie James for no gain. Then a Daniel Jones deep shot was off target to bring up another Giants punt.
• Hurts took a deep shot down the right sideline to Sanders ... and it was ruled incomplete. The ref said he bobbled the ball, which I’m not sure was the case. Hurts did a great job of getting the ball out to Quez Watkins beat a blitz. Brown had a really bad drop while wide open in the middle of the field ... but the Eagles benefited from defensive holding on the Giants.

SECOND QUARTER

• DeVonta Smith dropped a pass over the middle. The Eagles reached 3rd-and-10 from the Giants’ 44-yard line. Hurts completed a pass to Quez for three yards and Nick Sirianni decided to go for it on 4th-and-7. Long distance to go but it’s a good call since they’re kind of in No Man’s Land with a long field goal attempt or a short field punt. On fourth down, Hurts aired it out to DeVonta ... and the ball was PERFECTLY placed between the underneath and overhang for a catch-and-run touchdown in stride. WOW. Jalen Hurts franchise QB confirmed. And great job by DeVonta to not worry about the incoming hit. EAGLES 14, GIANTS 0.

• Fletcher Cox pressured Jones on third down, almost facemasking him. Jones got the ball off to his dump down option and Marcus Epps tackled him for a loss. Another great defensive stop that didn’t require a takeaway. A common theme over the past two weeks.
• The Eagles took over at the Giants’ 33-yard line after a hilarious moment where the Giants’ punter dropped the ball and THEN punted it, prompting an illegal kick penalty. Have you ever seen that before? The penalty was 10 yards and a loss of down from where the Giants were attempting to punt from their own 43-yard line.

• Working with great protection, Hurts hit an open A.J. Brown for a 33-yard touchdown. TOO EASY! Brown’s 10th time in the end zone this season. EAGLES 21, GIANTS 0.

• T.J. Edwards failed to catch a possible pick to bring up a Giants 4th-and-10 from the 50-yard line. The Giants punted it without messing up this time.
• The Eagles started at their own 8-yard line with 5:05 left in the second quarter. A heat check from Hurts to Watkins went incomplete. Hurts got sacked on third down on a play where there was also holding on Jordan Mailata that got declined. The Eagles punted from their 2-yard line ... and Arryn Siposs had his punt blocked but he scooped it with ONE HAND and almost ran for the first down ... but stepped out before reaching the marker. Still a good job by him to make it close as possible.

• After taking over at the Eagles’ 15-yard line, the Giants took three plays to get into the end zone. EAGLES 21, GIANTS 7.
• The Eagles took over at the Giants’ 35-yard line after a 66-yard kick return by — who else? — Giants Killer, Boston Scott. Three Sanders run got the Eagles inside the 10-yard line. Hurts tried running but got sacked to bring up 3rd-and-9. On third down, the Eagles opted to throw into the end zone but Hurts’ pass was off target. The Eagles could’ve ran it there to make the Giants burn their second timeout but did not. Britain Covey came in as the replacement holder for Siposs ... and did well enough to help Jake Elliott make his 27-yard field goal attempt. Three possession game again. EAGLES 24, GIANTS 7.

• Reddick caused Jones to move off his spot, which allowed Cox to take down the Giants quarterback for a drive-ending sack.
• Hurts to Kenneth Gainwell for no gain led to the end of the first half.

THIRD QUARTER

• The Eagles took over at their own 16-yard line after a less good Scott return. But then it only took two runs to get into Giants territory. Hurts gained 24 on a designed run. The Eagles got to 3rd-and-11 after Brown and Hurts seemingly had a miscommunication. On third down, Hurts connected with Smith ... but the receiver only got one feet in. Looked like a great throw, just a rare mistake from such a pass-catcher who’s really good at body control. The Birds had to settle for a 39-yard field goal. EAGLES 27, GIANTS 7.
• The Giants drove to 3rd-and-3 at the 10-yard line and converted with a Jones throw to a wide open Gary Brightwell. A few players later, the Giants punched it in with a Jones sneak. 11 plays, 75 yards, 5:41 off the clock. Not ideal to give up a scoring drive, of course, but at least they made the Giants take their time to do it. EAGLES 27, GIANTS 14.
• The Eagles got to 3rd-and-1 and a line with Jordan Mailata lined up on the right side to power the toss play for a Sanders conversion. The Eagles moved to 1st-and-goal from the 10-yard line and Hurts followed his excellent blocking for a run up the middle by Jason Kelce and company for the score. Again, too easy. EAGLES 34, GIANTS 14.

• Brandon Graham picked up a sack to bring up 3rd-and-16. The Giants to 4th-and-4 and converted ... except it was called back due to an illegal pick play on Avonte Maddox. The Giants then punted on 4th-and-14.

FOURTH QUARTER

• The Eagles went three-and-out on a drive where Hurts took a sack after holding on to the ball for a long time. This offense sucks!!!!!!!!!!! :P
• Jake Elliott came in for the punt, which went 35 yards. Could be worse for a backup option. The Giants took over at their own 25-yard line. The Giants got to 4th-and-5 and went for it ... and Jones picked up the first down with his legs. K’Von Wallace watched Darius Slayton run by him to catch a pass for a 37-yard gain. Might have wanted to cover him there. The Giants got set back to 3rd-and-8 after a false start penalty that wiped out a Jones run that looked like it would’ve moved the chains. Yikes. The Giants went for it on 4th-and-8 ... and Jones was hit as he threw to force an incomplete. Game.
• The Eagles kept Hurts in the game instead of putting Gardner Minshew in. The Eagles ran some clock before Sanders broke a 40-yard touchdown run. STATEMENT. EAGLES 41, GIANTS 14.
• The Giants put Tyrod Taylor in the game and Brandon Graham immediately strip-sacked him for a Patrick Johnson recovery.
• The Eagles took over at the Giants’ 22-yard line with Gardner Minshew in. They used four plays to punch it in with Boston Scott. EAGLES 48, GIANTS 14.
• Tyrod Taylor led a garbage time touchdown drive. EAGLES 48, GIANTS 22.

FINAL SCORE: EAGLES WIN, 48 to 22

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INJURY NEWS

• Kyron Johnson (shoulder) was ruled questionable to return early in the game. He was later ruled out.
• Reed Blankenship (knee) went down halfway through the second quarter. K’Von Wallace came in to replace him. Blankenship was carted off and ruled out.
• Quez Watkins was in pain after a deep target late in the second quarter.
• Arryn Siposs injured his foot on the play where his punt was blocked and got carted off the field. He was ruled OUT.
• Grant Calcaterra limped off the field in the third quarter but came back on.
• Lane Johnson (abdomen) got evaluated in the medical tent in the fourth quarter. Jack Driscoll came in to replace him. He was ruled questionable to return but did not finish the game, likely in part due to the Eagles having a big lead.