Giants stay alive; Eagles tied for first
Up to the minute Philadelphia sports news, Phillies, 76ers, Eagles, Flyers, college sports and more from Philly.com
Giants stay alive; Eagles tied for first
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The Giants kept their season alive tonight with a 31-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
New York's victory means the Eagles are tied with Dallas atop the NFC East at 8-4. The Giants are just one game behind at 7-5 and could make some serious noise with a win over the Birds at the Meadowlands Sunday night.
If you want to look at tiebreaks, the Giants get it over the Cowboys since they swept the division series.
The Cowboys have the edge over the Eagles, but they still have to play once. If they split, it goes to division record.
The Eagles have the edge over the Giants, but they also still have to play once more. Again, division record would decide it in the event of a split.
Normally we do this later in the week, but I wanted to get the information out there right away.
Here's how the division breaks down:
Dallas Cowboys (8-4)
Division record: 2-2
Remaining schedule: San Diego, at New Orleans, at Washington, Philadelphia.
Record of remaining opponents: 32-16
Home games remaining: 2
Road games remaining: 2
Division games remaining: 3 (at Washington, Philadelphia)
The struggles in December continue. The Cowboys went to the Meadowlands with control of the division and left with a loss. It gets no easier. Dallas' next two opponents - the Chargers and Saints - have a combined record of 21-3 this season, and we saw today that the Redskins are no gimme. Oh yeah, there's that matchup with the Eagles in Week 17 that just might be of importance.
Philadelphia Eagles (8-4)
Division record: 3-1
Remaining schedule: at Giants, San Francisco, Denver, at Dallas.
Record of remaining opponents: 28-20
Home games remaining: 2
Road games remaining: 2
Division games remaining: (at Giants, at Dallas)
This is going to get fun. A Sunday night matchup with the Giants. A home game against the 49ers. The return of Brian Dawkins. And a season finale in Dallas. Wow. The Eagles are tied for first place (tiebreaker aside) after their rout of the Falcons Sunday. They're in great shape for a playoff berth and control their own destiny in terms of the division. If I'm a PR person, now would probably be a good time to announce that we're extending the coach's contract.
New York Giants (7-5)
Division record: 3-1
Remaining schedule: Philadelphia, at Washington, Carolina, at Minnesota.
Record of remaining opponents: 26-22
Home games remaining: 2
Road games remaining: 2
Division games remaining: 2 (Philadelphia, at Washington)
I told you last week they're not done. The Giants kept their season alive with a win against Dallas. If they can do the same next week against the Eagles, and if the Cowboys fall to the Chargers, they'll find themselves tied for first place in the NFC East heading into the final three games. Based on opponents' winning percentage, the Giants have the easiest road ahead. If the Saints had lost today, the Vikings would have been more likely to play their regulars in that Week 17 game. We'll have to see how Minnesota's season plays out. There's a chance they're playing all backups in that one.
Nezhy, your desire to fire Reid doesn't make sense. He has this team with an 8-4 record during a season in which they've lost their starting RT (Andrews), starting HB (Westbrook), #1 receiver (Curtis), starting MLB (Bradley), backup MLB (Gather), starting LOLB for 5 games (Jordan), nickle back for 4 games (Hanson), and KR/back-up CB (HOBBs). He has done more with this team than he has with any previous team. Other teams with this many injuries have wilted down the stretch. I say not only keep Reid, but keep him and McNabb for as long as you possibly can.— dusk2k3- Sheil, nice job yesterday! I watched some of the Boys/Gints game yesterday, wasn't impressed with either of them, totally beatable by the Birds team that showed up against the Falcons, but if the team that played the Raiders shows up then all bets are off! Just sayin'...— DJ
Comment removed.- Stop the Giants run offense and we will win. Eli will throw his INT's; it will be more, the more throws he has to make. Cowboys dominated the Giants, except for RUN OFFENSE. Our D-line and Run Defense need to step up like they did in playoff against Giant run offense.— Seed
- lonewolf 10 - we're not prematurely celebrating the winning of the division. We're celebrating a victory both because it makes the winning of the division easier to achieve and because every victory is worth celebrating. "Only a fool" would discount the joy inherent in this victory just because of it doesn't guarantee future success. For one week at least, Enjoy! Life's good!— Falkirk
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- FIRE REID. Eagles will NEVER win ring with him.— Nezhy
i can't see them holding up for four more straight. even though they play better in december, 3-1 at best, but more likely 2-2. the giants aren't gonna be cake. bdawk coming back will be him coming 200%. if this is all set by the last week, hopefully the cowgirls do their usual final week choke. i see a weird game from either SF or SD.— Evilvet- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- I agree with Joe Funk. Admittedly, it's almost as hard to root for the Giants as it is the Cowboys, but I also wanted to see the Giants lose today for the same reasons - and even if the Cowboys don';t lose their next two, we play head-to-head the last week. (I wish it were possible for both of them to have lost.)— MG44
- As much as I dislike them, a Dallass win would have been better for the Birds. It would have kept them 1 game ahead of the Birds but it would have essentially knocked the GiAin'ts out of the picture. The Girls have 2 losses coming in the next 2 weeks so the lead in the East wouldn't have mattered.— Joe Funk
- Karlos, i agree with philly499, your comment was beyond stupid.— Bleue
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Karl: They win by four touchdowns on the road against a team with a winning record and you're complaining about Reid not going for 2? Really? You need to get out more.— andrewfrombrooklyn
- So maybe someone can tell me why with the score 26-0 we kick extra point and not go for 2. 28 beats either 27 or 26, and, despite lousy Atlanta team, I've seen bad teams beat us. i.e., Oakland
- Comment removed.
- You're correct phillyfan412. I'll clarify. - SK— skapadia
- The Giants would need to win AND have Dallas lose to have a share of the division lead next week. They don't get it with just a win.— phillyfan412
Follow
Sheil on Twitter. And become
a fan of Moving the Chains on Facebook.
Download our NEW iPhone/Android app for even more Birds
coverage, including app-exclusive videos and analysis. Download it here.
