The Eagles and Giants played in a football game Sunday — a game with minimal importance with Philadelphia locked into the NFC's 2-seed in next week's NFL playoffs.
But with nearly all of their stars bundled in thick jackets on the sidelines Sunday, Philly's backups beat New York's starters 20-13 in Week 18 to wrap up the NFL season.
As we've done all year, we're taking stock of who has impressed and depressed in the latest Eagles game. A look at the Eagles' 18th win (to just four losses) against the Giants since 2014:
Stock up: 📈
There really was no overlying storyline that dominated the game but there were a bevy of individual performances that were noteworthy in this one. Some told us what we already knew — that Dallas Goedert and Jordan Davis are awesome. Others showed us what might be in store in the future as some young players made the most of a rare opportunity.
Tanner McKee: The Eagles third-string quarterback was really solid Sunday in his first NFL start, opening things up with a 3-for-3 start on the team's first drive, including this slick touchdown rollout and pass to rookie Ainias Smith:
Tanner McKee to Ainias Smith for the @Eagles TD!
📺: #NYGvsPHI on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/XVFWWbduKl— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2025
McKee was equally great in relief last week helping the Eagles clinch the NFC East, and his performance — 26-for-40 for 263 yards and two scores Sunday — really opens things up for the front office. They should feel completely comfortable shopping backup Kenny Pickett this offseason and could be able to get a late draft pick for him, keeping the understudy role for McKee to back up Jalen Hurts next season.
Jahan Dotson: The Eagles WR3 — who cost a pretty penny in a trade with Washington prior to the start of the season — was McKee's favorite target in this one, catching seven passes for 94 yards. In the prior 16 Eagles games this season, all of which he played in, he had just 12 catches for 122 yards. It helps not having to compete for targets with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
Jordan Davis: Due to the numbers game, and 11 Eagles players being inactive Sunday, some starters had to take some snaps. Davis appeared as a rotational defensive tackle (in contrast to being a featured one normally) and made an impact, collecting a big tackle on a screen for a loss of five yards in the first half. He had four tackles.
Dallas Goedert: Fresh off the injured reserve, Goedert played the first few series for the Eagles and had four catches for 55 yards before sitting out the second half. Having a full-strength and grooving Goedert will make the offense even more potent in the postseason.
Jeremiah Trotter Jr.: Playing in most snaps on defense, Trotter was particularly effective in the run game, making a handful of really solid tackles — 11 of them in total.
Kelee Ringo: Many forget the Eagles do have a little depth at corner, and Ringo looked pretty locked in when he was matched up against Malik Nabers in this one, highlighted by a great pass breakup on 4th down in the first half.
Will Shipley: The Eagles' third string rookie running back took the majority of snaps with Saquon Barkley's regular season over and he showed he had a future of making major contributions in the pass game. Shipley had a 14-yard catch and a 13-yard catch back-to-back in a three-minute drill situation to set up a Jake Elliott field goal (and 10-0 lead).
Sydney Brown: Credit to Brown, the hard-hitting back up safety who caught a fly ball interception to clinch the Eagles' franchise-best 14th win late in the fourth. The Eagles have been a turnover-creating machine recently.
Stock down: 📉
We usually like to touch on one overarching theme or area the Eagles need to work on in this section. But very few of these guys will play next week — so a couple of lowlights before moving on to the NFC Wild Card:
Jake Elliott: Continuing a career-worst season, Elliott missed 39-yard FG in the second quarter his eighth of the year. In 2023 he missed two. He did make two chip shots, from 24 and 32 yards respectively.
Nick Gates: Not a name you'll ever need to know unless things go very badly, the backup (technically third-string) center had a wildly bad snap that went over McKee's head, resulting in a 14-yard loss. He had a second bad snap later but McKee and his 6-foot-6 frame barely corralled it.
The Giants: They won't even have a top-three pick this April. And they're probably bringing back the same regime for 2025. And they lost to the Eagles backups.
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