Hurts ready to lead Eagles past Giants

It’s been a long wait, but the Philadelphia Eagles will be back on the field tomorrow night to take on the New York Giants in the NFC divisional playoffs. The Birds will try to defeat their turnpike rivals for a third time but in this case to eliminate them from the postseason.

In the two prior meetings of 2022, the boys in midnight green beat Big Blue in a route, 48-22 in Week 14. For the regular season finale, Philadelphia did just enough to secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs with a 22-16 victory.

Of course, a huge part of that game was about preserving the health of quarterback Jalen Hurts. The first time All-Pro has been suffering from a right shoulder strain and had to step in after two straight losses with backup Gardner Minshew under center. Hurts is good to go for Saturday though, as he has been a full participant in practice this week. “I’m feeling good,” Hurts said when asked about his shoulder.

Eagles are the top seed which earned them the a bye week and, despite injuries, are the favorite out of the NFC conference to reach Super Bowl LVII. New York is the fifth seed coming off a big win last week to against Minnesota. This is the fifth postseason meeting between the two with the series tied at 2-2. The Birds eliminated the Giants in the past two contests, winning in 2011 and 2009.

Although many are saying it is tough for a team to beat an opponent three times in one season, that is nothing more than a myth. Since the 1970 league merger, it has happened 24 times with the sweeping squad winning 15 out of 24 tries.

Philadelphia presents a lot of firepower on both sides of the ball. Hurts had a breakout year of massive improvement which earned him spots as a Pro Bowl games starter, 2nd-team All-NFL status and MVP consideration. Wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith both gained 1,000 yards receiving in 2022 season and became the first pair of Eagle teammates to do so in the same season. Brown also broke the franchise record for receiving yards in a single year, Smith set the mark for catches. Running back Miles Sanders ran for his first 1,000 season, a feat not done in Philly since LeSean McCoy in 2014.

On defense, the Eagles became the first team in National Football League history with four different players to record 10-plus sacks each in a season. Pro Bowl edge linebacker and Camden’s own Haason Reddick, defensive ends Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat, along with defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, all produced double-digit sacks. The team totaled 70 sacks which is the third all-time since sacks became an official stat in 1982.

In the secondary, cornerbacks Darius Slay, a Pro Bowl selection, and James Bradberry, an All-Pro, lead the league’s number one pass defense against a Giants team who thinks run first with RB Saquon Barkley and QB Daniel Jones.

Eagles fans also have encouraging news as All-League right tackle Lane Johnson has returned to practice after missing time with an abdominal injury. This will help tremendously in pass protection, given that head coach Nick Sirianni and the coaching staff want to keep Hurts upright and in one piece.

If the Eagles are victorious Saturday evening, they will reach their 8th NFC Championship on Sunday, January 29, awaiting the winner of Dallas and San Francisco in the other NFC divisional round matchup. The Birds are 7.5-point favorites against New York and there is a little bit of pressure considering heightened expectations and both Hurts and Sirianni looking to gain their first postseason victory.