The state of the Philadelphia Eagles organization is in shambles as they move onto their third quarterback of the year. At 2-6 with six straight defeats, and three straight by double digits, the Eagles season feels all but lost – especially when you consider the injuries that have plagued this roster. To make matters even worse, they haven’t had their week off yet; that comes next week, after they meet division-rival New York at home. To put the cherry on top, the Giants are off a bye ahead of this one, which is significant given who is coaching the G-Men right now. New head coach John Harbaugh is 15-3 SU after the bye, which is the best mark of any active coach with more than 10 games in that sample.
Joe Milton starting for the Eagles should inject some life into the offense, but he’s largely unproven at this level despite having a cannon for an arm. He’s on his third team in three years, which tells you all you really need to know, in addition to the fact that Tanner McKee was the backup over him. In any case, his first NFL start as an Eagle won’t exactly be easy for him, since this offense is already banged up and the Giants are above-average against the pass defensively. Per SumerSports, they’re 12th in EPA per pass and ninth in pass success allowed. Going back to the injuries, Saquon Barkley, DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks did not practice on Wednesday.
Going on their third quarterback of the season, the Giants have maintained a fairly strong offensive profile when stacked up against a Philly offense going through the same issues. In fact, the Eagles are 31st in EPA per play and 30th in success rate this season, and I don’t think Milton will immediately fix that, if at all, especially with the injuries and rest disadvantage. The defense hasn’t done its job either, for what it’s worth, as the Eagles are outside the top 22 in both of those metrics on the other side of the ball.
Am I excited to lay a field goal with the Giants on the road against a division rival they haven’t been favored against for years? No, but the fact that this is the line speaks volumes on the expectation of this outcome. Giants or pass.
Giants vs Eagles prediction: Giants -3 (-118) available at time of publishing. Playable to -125 or -3.5 (+100).
This total is pretty low, and it makes sense. It’s a divisional game between two offenses led by their third quarterbacks of the year. That said, I believe that’s being a bit over-baked into this number.
The Giants are off a bye, and given they are led by the best active post-bye coach in the NFL, I’m expecting New York to be smooth operationally, even with J.J. McCarthy under center. He’s had over a month to learn the playbook now, and he’s been in two games for the Giants already. He looked pretty solid in both outings, and he seems to be regaining the confidence the Vikings somehow annihilated since drafting him in the first round in 2024. McCarthy also has plenty of playmakers at his disposal.
On the other side, Joe Milton is not the most experienced quarterback at the NFL level. We don’t really know what we’re going to get from him on this offense, but we know he’s going to push the ball down the field, and that likely will provide a bit more life into the Eagles offense – even if it is banged up. At this point, anything would be an improvement for this bunch.
Despite the injury and quarterback situations, so much has to go right in order for games to stay under these low totals, just overs with high numbers in the mid-to-upper 50s. It only takes a couple quick scores to propel an over on this low of a number, and that’s well within reach in this matchup. Lean over, but it’s not anywhere near a must-bet.
Giants vs Eagles prediction: Over 38.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to 39.5.
