Who’s Picking the Eagles?


Photo by: Jeff Fusco.

Photo by: Jeff Fusco.

Here’s a roundup of national media predictions for Sunday’s Eagles-Giants game.

Only two of the five NFL.com experts are picking the Eagles.

Elliot Harrison of NFL.com is predicting a two-point loss for the Birds:

Giants 26, Eagles 24

LeSean McCoy was held to a scant 48 rushing yards the last time these two squads met, and Big Blue walked away with a 15-7 win. Does that stat line sound familiar? McCoy rushed 19 times for 22 yards against the Redskins in Week 3, 10 times for 17 yards against the Niners in Week 4 and 24 times for 81 yards against the Rams last week. Philly’s banged-up line is causing McCoy and the run game problems, while quarterback Nick Foles is barely playing well enough to compensate. Meanwhile, Eli Manning has posted a passer rating of 100-plus for New York in three straight games now. Question is, can Andre Williams provide a spark for the Giants? Against this Eagles front, the answer is yes.

Kevin Patra of NFL.com puts together his Week 6 Viewer’s Guide:

LeSean McCoy needs to bust out on Sunday night. Last year’s leading rusher had more than twice as many yards from scrimmage last season through five games. He faces a Giants defense allowing just 99 yards on the ground per contest. Shady is the linchpin to the Eagles’ offense and must take pressure off Nick Foles for the Eagles to hold off the Giants for the NFC East lead.

McCoy’s importance is magnified because the Eagles’ defense will give up points to Eli Manning and his efficient and studded offense. The Eagles are allowing 274.2 passing yards per game. They have also allowed nearly 50 percent on third-down conversions and 29.3 points per game in their last three contests. The Giants, meanwhile, have scored 30 or more points in three straight games. That’s a mixture New York will love.

The Giants barely edge out the Eagles, 7-6, for the majority of ESPN.com‘s expert picks.

Don Banks of SI.com is taking the Birds in a high-scoring contest:

Eagles 34, Giants 30

Just win, baby, isn’t the mantra of Eagles fans. The Birds are 4-1 and tied for first place in the NFC East, but mostly the chatter is what’s wrong with LeSean McCoy, what’s wrong with Nick Foles, and where are the explosive plays Chip Kelly’s offense produced last season? There’s a lot of angst in Philly, and I hear it every time I turn on talk radio these days. Giants fans are considerably more satisfied at the moment, because after New York’s dismal 0-2 start, its current three-game winning streak feels like a revelation. The Eagles certainly aren’t clicking yet, but their running game will return to prominence at some point, and when it does, Kelly’s offense will put a lot of those questions to rest.

Pro Football Talk gives out a split decision with Mike Florio going against the Eagles:

MDS’s take: This is the kind of game the Giants need to win if they’re going to win the NFC East. It’s also the kind of game the Eagles need Nick Foles and LeSean McCoy to play well in, after a shaky start to the season. I like Philly’s offense to have a much better game this week.

MDS’s pick: Eagles 35, Giants 24.

Florio’s take: The Giants have gotten better as the season has unfolded, and the Eagles have gotten worse. Yet somehow the Eagles keep winning far more often than not. With the new New York offense firing on all cylinders, it’s time for that to change — and for the NFC East to be thrust into an unexpected three-team race.

Florio’s pick: Giants 27, Eagles 23.

Vinnie Iyer of Sporting News is picking the Giants to win by a field goal:

Giants 27, Eagles 24

Welcome back this division to being the pride of the Peacock’s prime-time showcase. Looking at the second-half schedule, be prepared to see much of the Giants, Eagles and Cowboys flexed into SNF. Both teams are 1-0 in the division after dispatching the Redskins. As we know with the NFC East, you can throw out home field and expect craziness from game to game. The Giants are little more sane, because all of a sudden, Eli Manning looks like a two-time Super Bowl winner and Nick Foles looks more like a struggling point guard.

The Giants are still playing physical Giants football, just with a twist: Manning has some versatile skill players on par with Foles’ arsenal. They are better against the run, and injury-riddled Philadelphia continues to struggle up front. In these clashes, the Giants tend to show off being road tested. Tom Coughlin gets the better of Chip Kelly.

At Yahoo Sports, Frank Schwab and the Yahoo Users are taking the Eagles while Eric Adelson is going with Big Blue.

The Birds are given a slight edge with four of seven writers at USA Today choosing the home team.

FoxSports.com has three out of four experts picking the Giants.

Pete Schrager of FoxSports.com predicts an Eagles victory:

Sorry, but I can’t get worked up over a Twitter photo featuring two Giants players who’ve never won Super Bowl rings of their own celebrating the fact that the Eagles have none. So, let’s leave that manufactured “storyline” at that. An actual storyline? The Eagles offense still isn’t clicking on all cylinders. The defense and special teams have been carrying the load in recent weeks, but I think LeSean McCoy and Nick Foles get going in a Sunday night affair. The Eagles have beaten the Giants the last five times the two teams have played under the lights. That’s a stat I don’t find useless.

The Pick: Eagles 31, Giants 23

At CBSSports.com, Sunday’s outlook is dreary for the Birds with seven of eight experts picking the Giants.

Brett Michael Dykes of the New York Times is going with the paper’s hometown team:

If you saw the Giants play in the first two weeks of the season, it would have been hard to fathom that they would face Philadelphia this weekend with a shot to claim first place in the N.F.C. East. Tom Coughlin’s crew looked anemic in just about every way in the first two games. Most troubling, Eli Manning played as if his best days were behind him. It was conceivable that neither he nor Coughlin would be on the team’s sideline in 2015.

But a few weeks can make a huge difference in the N.F.L.

Manning now looks a lot like the Peytonesque Eli who led the Giants to two Super Bowl titles. In the past three games, he has completed more than 70 percent of his passes, and the Giants have averaged 35 points a game. The Eagles appear flawed, with the offensive stars Nick Foles and LeSean McCoy enduring some early struggles. In short, the Giants and the Eagles seem to be going in opposite directions.

Pick: Giants

Jay Yarow of Business Insider  lists the Eagles as one of his “probably fraud teams: good record, good momentum, but destined to crash” and takes the Giants:

Before we get into this one, let me say that I am an Eagles fan, and thus far I don’t think I have ever picked an Eagles game correctly. So, you may want to do the opposite of what I recommend here.

The number one question on mind of Philly fans this week: Is Nick Foles a fraud? Because, he sure seems like it. He’s missing open receivers, and his “mechanics” are off. He also has a softball sized bruise on his non throwing arm, according to Sal Paolantonio.

The Eagles offensive line is a mess, and its run game isn’t working. So, it’s hard to know what’s Foles’ problem and what’s not.

But, the Eagles look like the weakest 4-1 team in the league by a mile. They’ve beaten the Jaguars, Washington, the Rams, and the Colts. The Colts are good. The other three teams are the worst of the worst in the NFL.

The Giants, meanwhile, have everything clicking. The offense looks good. The defensive line looks strong again. I just don’t see how the Eagles can win this game unless they play significantly better than they have in the past three weeks.

The Eagles defense is too shaky. And the offense can’t get anything going anymore.

The pick: Giants +3

Matt Cassidy is a journalism student at Temple and an intern at Birds 24/7.