The New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles were eliminated from the postseason last week, so it would be natural to think that this Week 17 matchup is meaningless for both teams. That would also be wrong.
Eagles vs. Giants 2016 picks and predictions: Experts predict New York to end season with a win
There’s more than pride on the line in this matchup of 6-9 NFC East teams.
For starters, we could possibly be witnessing the end of a Hall of Fame coaching career with rumors swirling about the fate of Giants coach Tom Coughlin. The players continue to show their support and respect for him in the locker room, but it’s hard to ignore the poor results on the field in recent years.
The Giants have already guaranteed themselves a third straight losing season and a fourth consecutive playoff-less campaign. They are the only NFL team since 1990 (under the current postseason format) to follow a Super Bowl win by missing the playoffs in each of the next four seasons. Still, the Giants have a chance to salvage some pride and send their longtime coach out with a win if they can beat Philly.
While Coughlin remains in limbo, the Eagles already have decided that they’ll have a new coach in 2016. The team fired Chip Kelly on Wednesday and promoted offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur to be the interim head coach for their season finale against the Giants on Sunday.
Kelly authored back-to-back 10-win seasons and a playoff berth in his first season, but the team collapsed in 2015, going 6-9. His 26 wins were tied for the third-most by an Eagles coach in his first three seasons, but his failures as a personnel director proved to be his downfall. Nearly all of the moves he made this offseason backfired, and the team badly regressed on both sides of the ball this year.
In addition to the coaching storylines, this game has significant implications for the 2016 schedules of both teams. The winner will secure second place in the division and the loser will drop to third. Second place means a home game against the Atlanta Falcons and a road game versus the Seattle Seahawks. Third place means a home game against either the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or New Orleans Saints, and a trip to London to play the St. Louis Rams.
Nearly all of the experts are picking the Giants to end their season on a high note by beating the Eagles. The CBS Sports panel is 6-2 in favor of New York, while seven of the eight guys here at SB Nation are also picking the G-men.
| Week 17 | Ryan Van Bibber | Stephen White | Joel Thorman | David Fucillo | Danny Kelly | Matt Ufford | PFT Commenter | OddsShark |
| PHI vs NYG | NYG | NYG | NYG | NYG | NYG | NYG | PHI | NYG |
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