Philadelphia Eagles hold on to win over New York Giants on Christmas

PHILADELPHIA – After nearly throwing a 17-point halftime lead away forever, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New York Giants 33-25 on Christmas. It was their 12th straight win over the Giants and snapped a three-game losing streak. Now at 11-4, the win also keeps the Eagles as favorites to win the NFC East.

Meanwhile, the Giants fell to 5-10 and could once again turn to a new starter at quarterback after Tommy DeVito was benched in the first half for backup Tyrod Taylor.

Here are the details of the Christmas conflict:

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles and their fans were hoping Monday's game against the Giants would be a good one after losing three straight.

Although they achieved victory, their performance cannot be described as confidence-inspiring.

Inappropriate fouls have been a topic lately, and Philadelphia committed two of them in the second half. They lost a fumble on the opening kickoff of the third quarter, and quarterback Jalen Hurts threw a pick-six to Adoree' Jackson when tight end Dallas Goedert fumbled on a cutoff, allowing the Giants to pull within two.

Hurts and the offense responded with an 8-play, 75-yard scoring drive to help seal the win and avert disaster. But the feeling on the field wasn't that the Eagles were back on track but rather that they were lucky to play a bad team.

The positive side: Fortunately for the Eagles, they have the easiest shutout schedule in the NFL with a home game against the 3-12 Arizona Cardinals before wrapping up the regular season at the Giants. With the Cowboys (10-5) losing their last two games, Philadelphia is the favorite to claim the NFC East.

Buy breakout performance: Britain Coffey has been among the leaders in punt return average for most of the season, but he had his best game of the season with three returns for 66 yards, including an electric 54-yard return to set the Eagles up for a score on their first possession. The second-year player from Utah also saw increased playing time at receiver and caught his first NFL catch.

Promising trend: With linebackers Zach Cunningham and Nicholas Morrow sidelined with injuries, Shaquille Leonard got the start and recorded his first sack since the 2020 season while adding a couple of tackles for loss and a QB hit. Back issues have hampered the former All-Pro of late, but he offered some hope Monday for a beleaguered linebacker corps.

New York Giants

There was no fairytale ending for Tommy DeVito's Christmas. Instead, he was benched at halftime in favor of Tyrod Taylor.

Sitting on the bench was not due to injury, it was the coach's decision based on ineffectiveness.

DeVito went 9 of 15 passing for 55 yards in the first half and the Giants trailed 20-3. So Daboll went to veteran Taylor instead of the undrafted rookie who broke into the zone.

Taylor led them to a touchdown on his first drive by handing the ball off to running back Saquon Barkley three straight times. He later threw a perfect ball for a long touchdown to wide receiver Darius Slayton.

The Christmas breakup will likely be the end of an interesting story with DeVito. The local hero, who lives at home and feels very connected to a large portion of the Giants fan base, won three straight starts in late November to early December. He has seven touchdown passes to just one interception in his six starts.

QB Breakdown: DeVito – 9 of 16 passing for 55 yards with 0 TD, 0 INT – averaged just 1.1 air yards per attempt and had the Giants' offense total 101 yards in the first half. They also had 101 total yards in the fourth quarter last week in a loss to the Saints.

Taylor – 7 of 16 passing for 133 yards with 1 TD, 1 INT – Hit a 70-yard touchdown pass to Darius Slayton for the Giants' longest play of the season. But he also missed two key, relatively easy third-hand passes that stalled drives.

Worrying trend: Giants vs. winning teams. The Giants have a long way to go before they are taken seriously. This loss was just the latest example. They have now lost all seven matches they have played against teams that currently have a winning record. Five of those were in double figures. This season was supposed to be about closing the gap between the Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. Instead, the Giants were outscored 122-42 in three meetings against Dallas and Philadelphia. It shows how far they are from being able to compete in the NFC East, and yet the NFC. Great off season coming up.

The positive side: Better draft pick. After a brief glimmer of hope several weeks ago when they won three straight games, the Giants are now back in the mix for a truly high-profile pick. They are the favorite to go with the fifth overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, according to ESPN Analytics. The Giants came into Monday with a 63.3% chance of landing in the top five. And that's only going to increase, especially considering they will be underdogs in their final two games against the Los Angeles Rams and Eagles.

Pivotal play: It seems like every week the Giants' special teams play a costly negative game. In this case, Covey was allowed to return a punt 54 yards after a three-and-out from New York's offense to start the game. This put the Eagles on the Giants' 13-yard line and two plays later the score was 7-0. The Giants' special teams on Monday ranked 22nd in EPA special teams at -7.18. The ongoing struggles raise questions about whether coach Brian Daboll will really want to step back next season with Thomas McGaughey as special teams coordinator.