Listless Eagles blasted by the Giants 27-10 and will go to Tampa Bay for the NFL playoffs wild-card round

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — One week removed from one of their worst losses of the season against the Arizona Cardinals, the Eagles showed up at MetLife Stadium for their season finale against the New York Giants and fell flat on their faces.

The Eagles defense conceded 24 points in the first half while their offense laid a goose egg, helping the Giants to a 27-10 victory on Sunday night. Ultimately, the result of the game didn’t matter on paper, as the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Washington Commanders, 38-10, to secure the top seed in the NFC East. But the Eagles squandered an opportunity to build momentum heading into the postseason.

Now, the Eagles are set to hit the road for the playoffs as the No. 5 seed, beginning with a wild-card matchup next Monday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

When it rained for the Eagles offense and their injury luck, it torrentially thunderstormed. The Eagles’ woes began in earnest at the end of their second possession when cornerback Nick McCloud forced a fumble by wide receiver A.J. Brown, who had snared a pass over the middle of the field in an attempt to convert on second-and-9.

Brown injured his right knee on the tackle and eventually headed back to the locker room for additional evaluation. He did not return to the game. According to the NFL Network, an initial exam revealed that Brown’s ACL is intact.

In the second quarter, on fourth-and-3, quarterback Jalen Hurts jammed his right middle finger on a Giants rusher while attempting to make a pass. Hurts got his finger taped in the medical tent and returned to action on the ensuing Eagles possession, but he continued to take hits up front as the Eagles struggled to handle defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale’s notorious blitz. Hurts was sacked on each of the next two series on exotic blitzes, once by safety Dane Belton and again by inside linebacker Bobby Okereke.

Meanwhile, the Eagles defense was crumbling, conceding three straight touchdowns in the second quarter to allow the Giants to pull ahead, 24-0. Shortly after Hurts threw an interception during the two-minute drill, coach Nick Sirianni opted to sit his franchise quarterback with the playoffs around the corner.

Hurts finished the night going 7-for-16 (43.8%) for 55 yards, two sacks, and an interception for a 26.8 passer rating, marking his worst completion percentage and passer rating of the season. After the game, Hurts said that his finger “popped out” on the play when he was injured.

“Taking it day-by-day at this point,” Hurts said of his status going forward. “Very unfortunate, crazy thing. Never experienced anything like that.”

In turn, backup quarterback Marcus Mariota took over late in the second quarter and promptly threw an interception on his first play. He went 13-of-20 (65%) for 148 yards, three sacks, one touchdown, and one interception for a 82.9 passer rating. Wide receiver Quez Watkins scored the Eagles’ lone touchdown on a 16-yard reception with just over 10 minutes left in the game.

Coming off one of their worst defensive performances of the season against the Cardinals, the Eagles managed to keep digging the hole deeper on Sunday. The defense fared well on its first three possessions, holding the Giants to a field goal on their second drive and forcing them to punt on the other two.

But the Giants started to separate themselves on their fourth possession when quarterback Tyrod Taylor completed a deep pass to wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson on third-and-11 for a 26-yard gain. Robinson was wide-open in the middle of the field thanks to busted coverage on the back end. Running back Saquon Barkley punched the ball into the end zone on a 2-yard touchdown run to put the Giants up, 10-0.

In Week 18 with defensive play-caller Matt Patricia at the helm for his fourth game, the Eagles continued to concede explosive plays. On the following Giants possession, tight end Darren Waller hauled in a 22-yard pass over cornerback James Bradberry to the Eagles’ 22-yard line.

Then, on the next play, Robinson sat down in his route just 3 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. But when he caught the ball from Taylor, he broke tackles from Bradberry and inside linebacker Zach Cunningham, and gained 16 yards after the catch for a total of 19 yards to the Eagles’ 3-yard line. Barkley finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run as the Giants went up, 17-0.

“Definitely gotta stop the explosive plays,” slot cornerback Avonte Maddox said after the game. “But just execution. We’ve got to make sure we do our job.”

In the first half alone, the Eagles conceded 272 yards of offense on 38 plays (7.16 yards per play) for a total of 24 points (three touchdowns, one field goal). The majority of those yards came in the passing game, as the Giants racked up 229 net passing yards.

After blitzing Hurts often in their last meeting in Week 16, Martindale dialed up the pressure once again on Sunday. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Giants defense pressured Hurts on 15 of 19 dropbacks in the first half (78.9%), which is the highest pressure rate a quarterback has faced in a game within the last six seasons.

The Eagles fared poorly in the face of the blitz from the get-go. On third-and-9 during the Eagles’ opening series, the Giants rushed five, with a free runner in cornerback Cor’Dale Flott barreling toward Hurts. The four receivers ran vertical routes, providing Hurts with no hot-read options, so the quarterback scrambled to his right and threw the ball incomplete for tight end Dallas Goedert down the sideline.

On the Eagles’ first drive of the second quarter, Hurts had two free runners in his face on an attempted play-action pass on first-and-10. Again, Hurts didn’t have any easy options at his disposal, trying to get a pass off to Watkins on an out route near the sticks.

“Obviously, we didn’t do well enough there,” Sirianni said of the Eagles’ plan against the blitz. “So anytime it doesn’t go well enough, then that’s going to be on me.”

Hurts and Brown weren’t the only Eagles who sustained injuries against the Giants. After the Eagles punted on their opening drive, safety Sydney Brown was injured while attempting to make a tackle on punt returner Gunner Olszewski.

He was helped off the field by medical staff and eventually took a cart back to the locker room for further assessment. After the game, Brown was spotted in the locker room wearing a brace on his right knee and using crutches. A source confirmed to The Inquirer that Brown suffered what is expected to be a torn ACL and will undergo additional testing on Monday to confirm the injury.

Coming out of halftime, the Eagles ruled out right guard Cam Jurgens (eye) and safety Reed Blankenship (groin).