The New York Giants are gearing up to face off against the Philadelphia Eagles in week 7 — the contest represents an opportunity for both teams to re-insert themselves in the NFC East divisional race.
With the Dallas Cowboys struggling on defense and losing Dak Prescott for the remainder of the 2020 season, the division is wide open for the taking.
The Giants walked away with their first victory of the season under new head coach Joe Judge against Washington last week, providing them with a glimpse of hope and some essential momentum heading into Philadelphia. It has been quite some time since the Giants have overcome a tough Eagles team, and despite dealing with multiple injuries across the board, they will once again represent a difficult matchup.
Three keys for the New York Giants against the Eagles in week 7:
1.) Put pressure on Carson Wentz consistently
There is one sure-fire way to take advantage of the Eagles this season, and it is to get after quarterback Carson Wentz. He is on a career pace in the sack department, having already gone down 25 times through six weeks. He is on pace to go down over 66 times this season, which, believe it or not, is even more than Daniel Jones. This presents a fantastic opportunity for defensive coordinator Patrick Graham to dial up some creative blitzes and take advantage of a weak Eagles offensive front.
Unfortunately for the Giants, they lost Lorenzo Carter against the Cowboys to a torn Achilles, and second-year pass rusher Oshane Ximines is on injured reserve with a shoulder issue.
They will have to rely on Markus Golden and Kyler Fackrell, two more than capable players at the NFL level. Fackrell is actually having himself quite an impressive season, racking up three sacks and five quarterback hits through six weeks. I expect him to be an influential factor in this matchup, but the interior defensive line the Giants’ bread and butter.
I fully expect Leonard Williams, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Dexter Lawrence to push the trenches and collapse the pocket quickly against Philly. Of course, we can expect some of Graham’s creative cornerback blitzes and linebacker delayed stunts. That is one of the reasons the Giants are so capable on defense, their imaginative approach, and ability to create mismatches and communicate at a high-level.