by Chuck Sommers
Wednesday, Jan 18, 2023NFC Divisional Playoffs
Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
Where to watch: FOX
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Eagles -7.5; PHI -330, NYG +275; O/U 48
FanDuel: Eagles -7.5; PHI -360, NYG +290; O/U 48.5
BetMGM: Eagles -7.5; PHI -350, NYG +260; O/U 48
Caesars: Eagles -7.5; PHI -370, NYG +285; O/U 48
Season record
Giants: 10-7-1 (No. 6 seed)
Eagles: 14-3 (No. 1 seed)
Six games down and we’re on our way to the Divisional Round. What a wild card weekend that was. So many exciting games, games that came down to the final play. It was truly a fun way to kick off the weekend. And you know when the betting gets hot this time of year, you can trust our champion handicappers at bigal.com to get you through next week. How about Vegas Writer with a perfect 4-0-0 run last week in the NFL? AAA Sports came through at 4-1-0 and Jim Feist with a 5-2-0 mark dating back to the week prior. What’s going to happen this week with conference championship spots on the line? Make sure you’re tuned to bigal.com and our Best Bets page to see what our champion handicappers are bringing to the table!
Giants - Eagles preview, analysis and prediction
Last week
Giants: won 31-24 at Vikings in wild-card round
Eagles: Bye
At least one NFC East team will be playing in the NFC Championship Game. Likely, that means the entire world is going to burst into flames and we will never truly understand what life is like in a normal, understanding state.
But here we are thanks to the New York Giants proving how fraudulent the Minnesota Vikings have been all season. The Giants, the No. 6 seed in the NFC, get a one-way ticket to Philadelphia for the second time in three weeks to take on the top-seeded Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Divisional Round on Saturday.
I didn’t think we’d be sitting here early in the week discussing the greatest that is Daniel Jones, but coming off the best game of his career, the quarterback is certainly due his flowers. Jones threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns (didn’t turn the ball over) and ran for 78 yards to pace the New York offense to the 31-24 win over the Vikings in the wild card round.
I can spend all day talking about how the Vikings should feel embarrassed because they allowed Jones to run and throw all over them with proverbial ease. I should spend this space talking about how pitiful the Vikings looked, and I should spend all this time talking about how Kirk Cousins wasted a great game of his own to throw 5 yards short on a game-deciding 4th and 8.
But instead I will use this space to give flowers to Jones and Brian Daboll, acknowledge the fact that the Giants shocked the world, and use this space to tell you that the Giants have a legitimate chance to pull off this upset against the Eagles.
“A cornerstone franchise like this with such a rich history, this is what we’re supposed to do,” wide receiver Darius Slayton said. "We’re supposed to go to the playoffs. We’re supposed to be a winning team. We’re just going to keep trying to live up to the legacy that’s been here.”
That’s the Giants’ first playoff win in 11 years and they’ve got all momentum. There’s also this to take into consideration: It’s so difficult to beat a team three times. The Giants played without their starters in Week 18, while the Eagles had theirs, and they still only won by 6 on a backdoor cover touchdown. The Eagles better be ready for this one, because letting them go off the way Jones did against the Vikings is going to be a tough challenge.
“I think we’ve had some of our better games recently and found some stuff that works for us,” said Jones, who had touchdown passes to Isaiah Hodgins and Daniel Bellinger. “So we’ll keep doing it. I thought the coaching staff did a great job having us prepared.”
The Eagles had a bye week after clinching the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The good news: Jalen Hurts will be a full go on Saturday. After the MVP candidate missed two games with an injury, he returned for the final week against the Giants to at least ensure a clinch of the NFC East.
“I’ve got a bounty on me every week I go out there,” Hurts said Tuesday. “I’m going to go out there and just play my game.”
The Eagles have failed to cover their last four games, two of them without Hurts, mind you, while the Giants have not only won but have covered in their last five. That includes when they rested all their starters against the Eagles as 17-point underdogs and lost only by six.
The only way the Eagles are going to have to prove that they’re not frauds is by having their MVP lead the way.
“He’s better today than he was two weeks ago,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “He’s continuing to get better and he feels good.”
Prediction
You know what I want in this world? The Dallas Cowboys to host the NFC Championship. That would require the Giants losing, and the Cowboys beating the San Francisco 49ers. While I still can’t trust that, I still think the Eagles find a way. Eagles 24, Giants 20
Betting trends
Giants are 14-4 ATS this season.
Giants are 35-20 ATS on the road after allowing 75 rushing yards or less since 1992.
Giants are 11-2 ATS as an underdog this season.
Eagles are 6-3 ATS at home this season.
Eagles are 9-13 ATS after playing a game at home this season.
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
