Philadelphia Eagles, Weeks 7 and 18

Why is self-explanatory and you know well where and when at this point. With the NFL calendar involved in rare meltdowns and most of the moves made and shelved, it’s time to consider the who from the New York Giants perspective.

New York Giants On SI continues its look at the Giants’ upcoming opponents in the 2024 season. Keep up with each team’s moves, where they stand and, most importantly, how to beat them.

WHO: Philadelphia Eagles
When: Week 7, Sunday, October 20 (1 p.m. ET, Fox)/Week 18, Saturday, January 4 or Sunday, January 5 (TBD)
Where: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ/Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
Series History: PHI leads 93-88-2 (Last: 27-10 NYG, 1/2024)

The next stages of the Giants-Eagles rivalry will be partially defined by a Big Blue cornerstone turned green — wide receiver Parris Campbell, of course.

Of course, one of the headline moves of the entire NFL offseason remains the Saquon Barkley trade, one that Giants fans have had time to get over due to the passage of time and the signing’s status as a subplot on the offseason edition of “Hard Knocks.” “

Even if Giants fans are coming to terms with Barkley’s departure, however, the Eagles have created all sorts of new headaches in an effort to atone for last season’s rapid fall from glory: The careers of Fletcher Cox and Jason Kelce ended in a sour note, as is defending NFC champion Philadelphia, which has lost six of its last seven.

The awful stretch ended with an embarrassing 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card round, which came just over a week after the Giants ended their division title hopes with a rare three-possession victory at MetLife Stadium.

Philadelphia did what anyone going through hard times would do: shop. While Dallas sat comforted and the Giants and Chiefs rebuilt, the Eagles reloaded their Super Bowl case by writing big checks to Barkley, CJ Gardner-Johnson and Bryce Huff, as well as starters like AJ Brown, Landon Dickerson, Jake Elliott, Jordan Mailata. and DeVonta Smith.

A pair of new coordinators are also in tow to help head coach Nick Sirianni: Former division rival Kellen Moore will oversee the offense led by quarterback Jalen Hurts, while Vic Fangio will handle the defense.

Even the draft board favored Philly this time. With Gardner-Johnson back, the Eagles took Quinyon Mitchell with the 22nd overall pick ahead of Cooper DeJean, often viewed as one of the draft’s best athletes before injuries forced him bathtub.

Other de facto Among the acquisitions are Avonte Maddox, a nickel man who missed most of last season with a pectoral injury, and Isaiah Rodgers, who is back on the field after serving a one-year gambling suspension.

Who’s in: RB Saquon Barkley (FA-NYG), LB Zack Baun (FA-NO), OT Mekhi Becton (FA-NYJ), WR Parris Campbell (FA-NYG), CB Cooper DeJean (D2-40), S CJ Gardner-Johnson (FA-DET), C/G Matt Hennessy (FA-ATL), DE Bryce Huff (FA-NYJ), LB Jalyx Hunt (D3-94), CB Quinyon Mitchell (D1-22), QB Kenny Pickett (Trade- PIT), RB Will Shipley (D4-127), LB Devin White (FA-TB)

Who’s out: S Kevin Byard (FA-CHI), DE Fletcher Cox (retired), C Jason Kelce (retired), QB Marcu Mariota (FA-WAS), LB Nicholas Morrow (FA-BUF), LB Haason Reddick (Trade-NYJ), RB Boston Scott (FA-LAR), RB D’Andre Swift (FA-CHI), WR Quez Watkins (FA-PIT), WR Olamide Zaccheaus (FA-WAS)

Giants fans need little reminder of how green the tide has turned in their longtime rivalry with the Eagles: Even with last season’s Week 18 postponement, Philadelphia went 26-8 in meetings held since 2008, with two of those . triumphs coming into the NFC playoffs. Needless to say, there haven’t been any blue brooms in a long time, so let’s go back to 2007, when the Giants picked up a pair of wins en route to Super Bowl XLII.

The first, which partially avenged a Wild Card loss from the previous postseason, was a famous defensive struggle Sunday night, one in which the Giants defense sacked Donovan McNabb an NFL-record dozen times in a 16- 3.

A nine-yard touchdown toss to Plaxico Burress proved to be the only offense the Giants needed, but Kawika Mitchell added a little more for good measure when he took a McNabb fumble back 17 yards for six.

In the December rematch, Philadelphia drove into the end zone, but Brian Westbrook’s 18-yard punt from McNabb proved to be their only drive. The Giants held Philadelphia to only David Akers field goals from there on out.

Another Burress touchdown proved to be key once again, part of a 136-yard, seven-catch day. The Eagles had a chance to force overtime on a deep ball from Akers, but his 57-yard 3-pointer fell short. Instead, three short tries to Lawrence Tynes created the final margin of 16-13.

Don’t run with the hype

One of the most shocking developments in the Giants’ schedule was that none of the upcoming matchups with Philadelphia received immediate primetime treatment (the possibility remains for the last meeting in Week 18).

Despite the relatively short 1 p.m. start time, MetLife will likely reserve its worst taunts for Barkley’s return, but the Giants themselves can’t get lost in the hype surrounding him.

With that in mind, participating in the inaugural offseason edition of “Hard Knocks” was perhaps the best thing that could have happened to the Giants, as it was a chance to more or less get ahead of the story before it to infiltrate training camp or divisional play.

It also helped that the Giants, in the grand scheme of things, came out looking better for it, especially considering the front office had a chance to explain themselves behind the scenes.

All of this should ease the pressure on the Giants, so they’d be wise to take it, especially considering the issues they had in defense of the run last season.

Go long

The Eagles’ slump has been defined by a sudden inability to hold on to big plays, as they’ve allowed at least one passing touchdown in each of their last 13 games. While the Eagles stocked up on old and new friends alike … the latter came with some welcome surprises in the draft … the fact remains that things will be relatively new in a secondary that has already had its share of problems last year.

Thus, it will be essential for the Giants receivers to use their speed and athleticism to battle against an Eagles group that tries to figure things out in more ways than one. Winning in a shootout is still a questionable metropolitan strategy at this point, but a few weeks of working with Malik Nabers and Jalin Hyatt should at least have them decently prepared.