Eagles vs. Giants predictions: Our writers make their picks for Week 18

The Eagles host the New York Giants on Sunday in the regular-season finale. Here are our writers’ predictions for Week 18.

The Eagles will be resting most of their starters, if not all, in a season finale without playoff implications. They’re locked into the No. 2 seed, and even Saquon Barkley having the NFL’s single-season rushing record within his sights wasn’t enough for the team to risk injury to key players ahead of next week’s first round. It’s also a long season, and some players could use the rest to heal up. Quarterback Jalen Hurts wasn’t yet out of concussion protocol as of this writing, and backup Kenny Pickett (ribs) didn’t practice this week, as well.

» READ MORE: Saquon Barkley isn’t playing Sunday — but he’s still trolling Giants owner John Mara

Tanner McKee likely will get his first NFL start with a second-unit offense that may struggle to move the ball against Giants first-teamers. Or maybe not. The Giants defense will be without some pivotal pieces, most notably defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, so maybe the “Mormon Missile” and a group that mostly has been waiting to show its stuff will get the job done.

On the other side of the ball, the Eagles may be forced to use a few rotational guys who normally play, but it’ll mostly be deep reserves who try to stop quarterback Drew Lock, receiver Malik Nabers, and a Giants team that posted 45 points on the Colts last week.

Giants fans probably would prefer the Eagles played Barkley and their first unit to hammer home the mistake made in letting him go and to enhance their chances of getting the top pick in April’s draft. But the players showed some heart last week, and coach Brian Daboll may still have their support. A repeat performance should be enough to get the win against second-stringers.

As for the Eagles, they can be content, win or lose, with the extra time off for their starters — most notably Hurts, assuming he’s out of protocol by next week — and avoiding potential injury.

Prediction: Giants 30, Eagles 20

Time to toot the ol’ horn. When we did our game-by-game predictions, I had the Eagles wrapping up the division in Week 17 and resting their starters for this season finale against the Giants. Look, Mom, I did it. Just don’t ask about my other predictions along the way.

We’re here, Week 18, and the Eagles are resting their starters while the Giants can’t even tank correctly.

So what can we expect Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field besides a lot of Eagles fans giving their tickets away to Cousin Tommy to stay home and save the miserable cold for a real game? Your guess is as good as mine.

We still don’t know who is starting at quarterback for the Eagles. Whether it’s Pickett or McKee, not much changes as far as what the Eagles’ backup offense is capable of. The “Mormon Missile,” the nickname for McKee that left tackle Jordan Mailata revealed last Sunday, looked pretty good the few times the Eagles asked him to throw the ball. He’s excited about playing, too. The Eagles are chasing a different kind of Super Bowl, but Sunday, assuming McKee plays a lot, is sort of his Super Bowl. He’ll be motivated.

» READ MORE: How would the Eagles go on without Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox? Cam Jurgens and Jalen Carter answered with their play.

Good football teams have good depth, and the Eagles are no exception. Sunday feels like a culture win, as meaningless as it is.

Oh, and that preseason prediction I mentioned? I had the Eagles losing. Forget about that part of it.

A game like this deserves a Scorigami, too.

Prediction: Eagles 25, Giants 18

This game is meaningless from a result standpoint for the Eagles, so Nick Sirianni is expected to rest a number of key starters ahead of the wild-card round next week.

In turn, this likely will be a matchup between the Eagles’ backups and the starters on a lowly Giants team, making it difficult to project exactly how this game could play out. It might not be a cakewalk for the Eagles’ second- and third-string players. After all, New York proved last week that it isn’t trying to tank for the No. 1 pick in the draft with its 45-33 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

Lock had his best performance of the year, completing 17 of 23 passes for 309 yards and four touchdowns (155.3 quarterback rating, a career high). Nabers continued to build on his strong rookie season and hauled in seven passes for a career-high 171 yards and two touchdowns. If Lock continues thrive, the Eagles’ backup defense could be in for a challenge.

It seems McKee is trending toward his first NFL start, as Pickett deals with a rib injury. The 2023 sixth-rounder out of Stanford made the most of limited action against the Cowboys, completing 3 of 4 passes for 54 yards and two touchdowns. How will he fare with more playing time? McKee was solid in the preseason, and though he will continue to play with backups, he will face some talented defenders in Giants edge rushers Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux.

The Eagles starters could beat these Giants handily, but this could be a close game with the backups playing. I’m giving the Giants the edge because of their performance last week.

Prediction: Giants 24, Eagles 21

With each of these organizations looking ahead to something bigger than winning on Sunday, there isn’t much to latch onto for this matchup.

In the long term, it would behoove the Giants to lose and secure a better draft pick, but that hardly will be the prerogative of the players in uniform, as illustrated by their win against the Colts last Sunday. For the Eagles, the cast of backups and developmental players expected to get extended playing time will view this as an opportunity to strengthen their cases for more prominent roles in seasons to come.

» READ MORE: Saquon Barkley’s pursuit of Eric Dickerson’s NFL rushing record ends: ‘I’m truly at peace with it’

Simply put, this will feel more like a preseason game than a preamble to the playoffs.

Assuming McKee starts, there’s reason to believe the Eagles offense could find some success against an uninspiring Giants group that likely has one eye on offseason vacations. McKee has excelled in the preseason and in a relief stint last Sunday against the Cowboys and could give the Eagles something to think about this offseason with another strong outing.

On the other side of the ball, Nabers is motivated to finish the year strong. The rookie had seven catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns against Indy, likely presenting a daunting task for the Eagles’ second-string cornerbacks Isaiah Rodgers and Kelee Ringo.

This has the makings of an underwhelming game, but there’s reason to believe points will be scored. If the Eagles can escape without any injuries, they’ll view it as a win, regardless of the result.

Prediction: Giants 31, Eagles 21

The Eagles play in Week 18 against the New York Giants. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Lincoln Financial Field.