NFL 2018-19 Thursday Night Football Review: Eagles Batter Giants

Philadelphia Eagles 34

New York Giants 13

I predicted that my Giants would upset the defending champion Eagles last evening on Thursday Night Football.

Yeah, I know, I know. What the hell was I thinking, right?

Obviously, the Eagles kicked the Giants butts. They left no doubt about it. While I did not watch most of the game, by the time that I tuned in, the G-Men were trailing, 31-13, and showed little real life, either on offense or on defense.

Guess that's why they are now 1-5, and seem to be one of the worst teams in the league yet again, eh?

The biggest reason for the Giants getting blown out yesterday was Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, completing 26 of 36 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns. In a losing cause for the NYG, Eli Manning completed 24 of 43 passes for 281, with no touchdowns and one interception.

One major highlight for the G-Men was their new running back, Saquon Barkley. He was already having a great season entering last night's game, with over 300 yard rushing and nearly 600 all-purpose yards in the first five games. He had one run of 46 yards, and another 50 yard touchdown run, and he took a screen pass and broke for a 55 yard run. In all, Barkley picked up 130 yards on 13 carries, and added 99 yards in addition to that as a receiver. That's 229 yards that he accounted for on offense, including the only touchdown that Big Blue would score on this night.

Odell Beckham continues to show immaturity and a lack of being a team player. He left at one point because of dehydration, which we have to assume is sincere. But he otherwise showed his typical, overly dramatic frustrations on the sideline, after calling out his quarterback, Eli Manning, not so long ago.

Here's the thing, though: Manning is a proven winner. He has been the Giants starting QB for over a decade, and has started every game during that span, save for the one where he was benched and had no choice late last season. But he has been there, taken the hits, and delivered the goods, whether the fortunes for the team were going well, or not. And he surprised many with two amazing playoff runs, earning two Super Rings, and two Super Bowl MVP awards, in the process.

Beckham just cares about his own image and stats, and does not seem to really care enough about the team to do anything or make any sacrifices. 

Let's face it: six games in, and for all intents and purposes, the Giants are basically all but officially eliminated from playoff contention. There is only one team that I can think of in NFL history that overcame a 1-5 start to qualify for the playoffs, and that was the Chiefs a few seasons back. They won out the rest of the regular season, pulling off ten straight, and then shut out the Texans in Houston in the playoffs, before bowing out up in Foxboro.

But these Giants are nowhere near as good as that KC team was. They continue to have all sorts of problems, and despite some glimpses of brilliance every now and then, they a team that has far too many weaknesses to realistically expect anything huge out of this season. Maybe they can and will earn a few more wins, maybe get to 3-13 once again. That would be about all that we can expect, other than more disappointment from the offensive line, more missed tackling by a shaky defense, and more whining by an immature set of wide receivers led by Beckham.