New York Giants: 3 keys to beating the Eagles in week 7

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.

2.) Establish the running game

When Joe Judge was initially hired, he employed the fact that the Giants must dominate in the run game. Establishing the run also helps with time of possession, two factors the Giants have simply been lackluster in the season.

Quarterback Daniel Jones is currently the team’s leading rusher, which gives you an example of just how poor the offensive line has been in the department.

Nonetheless, Devonta Freeman, who has spent the last four weeks of the season with Big Blue, has seen his snap count increase weekly.

Against Washington, he played in 73% of offensive snaps, earning 18 carries for 61 yards. Eagles currently have the 21st ranked run defense in the NFL, which makes this an essential part of the Giants’ game plan on Thursday night. Dominating the time of possession and battering down their second level is exactly how they can open up the passing game and play action. Hopefully, coordinator Jason Garrett sees the same thing.

3.) Score touchdowns in the red-zone

There is one easy way for the Giants to emerge victorious against the Eagles this week, and that is the score touchdowns in the red zone instead of settling for field goals. Over the past five weeks, the Giants have only scored three red-zone touchdowns, an embarrassing statistic that must be improved. Last week against Washington, Darius Slayton scored on a 23-yard pass, just outside of the red zone.

Forcing Graham Gano to settle for 40+ yard field goals consistently is not a winning recipe, and eventually, it will come back to bite the Giants in the butt.

Garrett’s game-planning in the red zone has been lackluster at best, running the ball too frequently and not getting creative. Against Dallas, we saw the Giants execute an end-around with Evan Engram, which he scored on, but the creativity has fallen off biweekly and proved to be inconsistent.

I would like to see more short routes in the red zone and taking shots on first down. When inside the 10-yard line, the Giants are severely deficient. Hopefully, they will have more success as the offensive line continues to develop.