The Philadelphia side can snatch the NFC East division lead from New York with a victory in this week's Monday Night Football clash
Following such a one-sided match with Falcons at Saints for Thursday Night Football, it is a relief to have a more even clash for Monday Night Football: Giants at Eagles.
The New York Giants are the division leaders and they will have the chance to cement their position at the top of the NFC East in Philadelphia.
And they’ll be as confident as ever after coming back down the field in the dying seconds of last Monday night’s match against the 49ers to score the winning touchdown.
They stand at 2/1 for the win.
The Eagles are also coming off a morale-boosting win, having blown away the Saints 39-17.
If they win on Monday, they’ll leapfrog the Giants to the summit of the division. Inspiration indeed.
They also hold a 7-3 record over New York this decade, including a 2-0 streak currently – which is why they’re clear favourites at 2/5.
Their main advantage, however, is in injuries – or lack of them.
Much of Philadelphia’s recent good form has come through the performance of ex-Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray.
Already highly-rated after leading the NFL in rushing yards last year for Dallas, he has been even better this year.
Against the Eagles, he carried the ball 20 times for a total of 83 yards and caught seven passes.
What’s more, they have the NFC Defensive Player of the Week, defensive end Fletcher Cox, to spearhead their D-line.
With six tackles and three sacks against the Eagles to add to his season stats of 18 tackles, four sacks and two forces fumbles, New York, and especially Eli Manning, should be very cautious.
Especially as Cox looks the picture of health.
No wonder the Giants are only 10/11 to score 22.5 points in total against the Eagles.
The Giants themselves, in contrast, already had key man Victor Cruz out with a dodgy hamstring and managed to add both Odell Beckham Jr and Reuben Randall to the injury list last week – also for hamstrings.
So New York will probably have all of their top three receivers out.
Thankfully, they still have Shane Vereen.
The running back, signed from the Patriots in the summer, nabbed a team-high eight receptions from Manning against the Eagles.
He will need to match that at least to give them a chance.
So although the teams appear evenly matched, it might come down to the personnel available
And since the Giants are limping and the Eagles are soaring, a genius is not required to understand why Philadelphia are favourites.
