Giants vs. Falcons and Eagles Prediction

That is 3 wins in a row.  It wasn’t the prettiest of games, as they fell behind by 10 to a depleted Falcon team, but they pulled out the 10 point win.  There was not one particular played that you could point to and see they played a great game, but there were solid contributions all around. 

Jennings started well and Williams ran well after Jennings got hurt.  Beckham made his debut and showed flashes and of course then proceeded to get overhyped by the NY media.  At least he does look like a viable 3rd receiver option.  They still need the guy they can throw to when he is covered who can make that catch.  That is what Nicks provided until last year’s regression.  Amazingly, the initially beleaguered offensive line continued their excellent play.  Manning has all kinds of time.  The one guy on the line with mediocre play is Jerry who will ultimately get replaced by Schwartz when he comes off the Injured Reserve list after week 8.  Interestingly, after all the press, Larry Donnell was shut out.  They only went to him once or twice. I’d like to think he served a good purpose as a decoy but I couldn’t tell from my vantage point.

Defensively Jacquian Williams finally showed up.  JPP had a bad first half followed by an excellent second half.  Hankins continues to impress at DT.  Demps may be an upgrade over Brown at safety but they badly miss Will Hill.  Hill will undoubtedly get the starting job in Baltimore when he returns from suspension and will do well.  As an aside, speaking of former players who were supposed to contribute this year, watching this offense it is easy to see that David Wilson would have thrived.  Prince Amukamara played another good game, and Rolle has his theories on why.  Lastly, I know this is getting old from this column but they don’t play Damontre Moore enough.  Part of the second half improvement was his greater presence in the lineup.  He either brings pressure, or forces double teams.  They often double-teamed him leaving others to get the pressure.  Herzlich continues to do nothing leaving it as an even greater mystery why they play him over Paysinger.  It hopefully becomes moot this week with the return of either Beason or Kennard.

The Eagles should make for a decent match up.  They have not been playing great ball, but can still be explosive.  The Giants are neither as bad as they looked the first 2 weeks or as good as they did the last 3.  A good defense will still cause their offense troubles and their defensive line still doesn’t benign enough pressure leaving receivers to have big days (this can be alleviated with more Damontre Moore).  The Giants have a real shot in this game but likely keep it close and fall 27-24.