The Giants left Philadelphia with a 19-11 win, and the result said plenty about this team: dangerous enough to beat the Eagles, messy enough to make it a grind.
It was the Giants’ first victory at The Linc since 2013, and it came against an Eagles team missing key pieces on offense. Even with that, the game never felt comfortable.
It had the same kind of tight, ugly feel as that 15-7 win back then, when Josh Brown scored all 15 Giants points. This time, Jameis Winston at least helped get the Giants into the end zone once, but the offense as a whole was still pretty limited.
A win is a win, though, and this one came with a few clear takeaways.
The biggest one: the interior offensive line remains a problem. The Eagles made life difficult inside with Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis up front and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Zach Baun behind them, but the Giants also did themselves no favors.
Devin Singletary carried 21 times for 31 yards, and the run game never found much room. Jon Runyan Jr. has not been a strong run blocker, and Sisi Mauigoa is still not there at the NFL level.
Even if Jonathan Taylor were in the mix, it’s hard to see that changing much. Andrew Thomas playing injured on the outside only adds to the issue.
The line has had occasional moments, like in overtime in Houston two weeks ago, but overall it’s a major limitation. On Sunday, the Giants’ best runner may have been Greg DesRosiers, who had three carries for 20 yards and actually broke one outside, which is rare for this offense.
The kicking game, meanwhile, was a difference-maker. Dominic Zvada was perfect on the day, going 4 for 4 on field goals.
He hit from 53 yards and twice from 49, and two of those kicks came in the fourth quarter when the Giants stretched a five-point lead to 11. If the recent misses are behind him, that matters a lot, because the Giants don’t win without him.
Jordan Stout also played a huge role in the field-position battle. He punted six times and averaged 52.3 yards per kick, with one booming 62-yarder and five punts downed inside the 20.
His biggest moment may have been a “only” 47-yard punt that was downed at the Eagles’ 5-yard line with 1:42 remaining. He kept flipping the field all afternoon.
On defense, Arvell Reese was everywhere. Three sacks, a forced fumble, and double-digit tackles made him the kind of disruptive presence that changes a game.
He still has room to grow in coverage, but his impact is obvious. He’s all over the field, and it’s hard to imagine an offensive coordinator enjoying the job of trying to account for him.
D.J. Reader kept adding to his value as one of the Giants’ best free-agent pickups, finishing with another sack, three more pressures, and a couple of run stops.
Darius Alexander also turned in a strong showing with two sacks and four total pressures, plus a tackle and an assist, both stops. Micah McFadden added two pressures and nine tackles.
There was also plenty to sort through at quarterback. J.J.
McCarthy was dealing with a hit on his hip, and it’s still unclear what that means going forward. Before the injury, he had his issues against the Vic Fangio defense and looked confused at times when reading downfield early.
He settled in later and made a couple of good throws, then gutted out the rest of the game after returning. Whether he plays next week remains to be seen.
That opened the door for Winston, and he made the most of it. The former No. 1 pick has thrown for more than 4,000 yards in three different NFL seasons, but interceptions have followed him around the league and pushed him into backup roles.
On Sunday, he gave the Giants exactly what they needed. With the team trailing 8-6 in the third quarter, Winston led an 8-minute, 76-yard drive that ended with a 13-8 lead the Giants never gave back.
He completed a 16-yard pass to Malachi Fields, hit Darnell Mooney for 27 yards, found Fields again for 14, and finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely. That was the swing moment in the game.
McCarthy came back after that and finished the contest, but Winston deserves major credit for the drive that changed everything. For the Giants, he proved again that he can still be a real weapon when called upon.
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For Giants fans, it was the kind of play that lingers because it did more than just flip the field. The kick settled deep in New York territory and kept rolling into rare company in Eagles lore, trailing only a pair of massive punts that have stood near the top of the franchise record book for years. [Read more 🡒]