rozomaldini NFL Column, Play-offs

Playoff Preview: Giants v Eagles 

By David McDonnell

I’ll keep this preview short and get straight into it. 

The best of the action in this game will be between the Giants defensive front against the Eagles O-Line and whoever wins this contest over the 60 minutes will be in the NFC Championship game next week. 

That’s how I see it and for me, it’s advantage Philly. 

Throughout the season, the Eagles offensive line have bullied most of the teams they have come up against. It has been the bedrock of their success and they have found it relatively easy to clock up yardage on the ground all season. Routinely they have taken a lead in the opening half and closed it out in the second half of matches.  

At the end of the season we had right-tackle Lane Johnson, guard Landon Dickerson and centre Jason Kelce picked on our All-Pro team.

This dominant line has helped the run game and given quarterback Jalen Hurts the time and space to dictate the Eagles offence and also opened up play-action to hit deep shots down the field. That Hurts is very dangerous with ball in hand adds another layer to what has become a very difficult team to play against as they can change how they decide to attack based on their opposition.

The strength of the Giants defence is their D-line, led by Dexter Lawrence and assisted in the middle by Leonard Williams and Jihad Ward. Although Lane Johnson is named to start for the Eagles, he will not be operating at 100% by any means and it will be interesting if the Giants can get some change out of impressive rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux attacking from the left side. 

Another interesting thing to watch out for is how healthy Hurts looks at QB as two weeks ago against the same opposition, it was clear he was minding an injured shoulder and only ran for 13 yards. If Hurts is not operating at 100% either, then the Eagles could be vulnerable to an upset. 

I know I am projecting here but I can’t see this Giants team, even coming off their best performance of the season in last week’s win against the Vikings in Minnesota, stopping this Eagles side. 

Last week was in my opinion Daniel Jones’ best game of his career for the New York franchise and this will certainly give them hope, but my gut feeling is their limited receiving core led by Darius Slayton and Isaiah Hodgins will find themselves outmatched by cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry. On the contrary, I expect the Eagles pair of AJ Brown and Devonta Smith will expose the Giants defensive backs. 

So much of the Giants success this season has come from the rushing talents of Sequon Barkley but tonight I believe it is more likely in my opinion that the Eagles defence will wear down the Giants rushing attack rather than the other way around. 

The Eagles have a terrific rotating cast on their defensive line with starters Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave and Josh Sweat, backed up with the talents of rookie behemoth Jordan Davis and veterans Ndamukong Suh, Linval Joseph and Robert Quinn. 

I’ll put my hands up, I can’t see the Giants beating the Eagles tonight. I haven’t seen many teams being able to compete upfront with that Eagles O-line yet this season and I suspect only the 49ers have the capability to overpower them consistently for four quarters in the NFC side of the draw. 

I have been wrong many times before but I don’t believe I’ll be wrong tonight. 

Eagles to win.

rozomaldini NFL Column, Week 12

NFL Week 11 Preview

By David McDonnell 

Sorry it’s only a short preview this week. 

Bengals v Titans 

The most interesting match-up for me is the Bengals visiting the Titans and these are two teams that have been in great form over the last few weeks. 

Tennessee were very impressive on Thursday Night Football in Week 11 against a resurgent looking Packers in Lambeau Field, where again they leaned on Derek Henry and the threat of Derek Henry to do the damage. 

I am not the biggest fan of Ryan Tannehill but very like Kirk Cousins he is a play-action specialist and he can throw down the field accurately when he gets time and space in the pocket. Having first-round pick Treylon Burks back after injury will help in this regard and the rookie wide-out had over 100 yards receiving last time out. 

The best way to stop play action is to stop the run but that is easier said than done when you have to come up against a behemoth that is Henry. With his power, speed and acceleration, and also a hand-off akin to being hit by a baseball bat, he is an unstoppable force and as long as he stays healthy then the Titans can beat any team on their day. 

They come up against a Cincinnati defence who are clever and well-coached with excellent players across their line-up. Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson are the standouts on the line but Logan Wilson as the ‘will’ linebacker has impressed me all season. 

It will be interesting to see how the Bengals defensive plays against Tannehill and the Titans. Will they pack the box to stop Henry as we have seen many teams do and leave themselves vulnerable to play action from Tannehill? Or will they mix it up and try something different? If it was me,  I would try and make Tannehill beat me from the pocket even if he is coming off an excellent display against Green Bay.  

The Bengals offence has been on fire all season led by Joe Burrow at quarterback. 

They die and ride with his performances and decision making and they haven’t skipped a beat since their superstar receiver Ja’Marr Chase was out over the last few weeks with a rib injury. 

Instead Burrow has learned more from Tee Higgens, who is coming off his best performance of the season with 148 receiving yards with an average of over 16 yards per catch against the Steelers defence. In the last two games, their running backs Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine have also combined for eight touchdowns.

With Chase listed as questionable for this game, he could be back on the field sooner than expected and the Bengals will need him as they are facing a tough schedule of games with the Chiefs, Browns, Bucs, Pats, Bills and Ravens rounding out their schedule after this game against Tennessee.

The Titans have won seven of their last eight games and have the league’s top run defence according to the metrics.  The Titans have a particularly aggressive defence that takes their lead from their head coach Mike Vrabel and the best way to stop this high-powered Bengals offence is to get to Joe Burrow. 

The Titans are averaging two and a half sacks a game and will need to improve this in my opinion to stop Joey Cool, or whatever they are calling him these days.

I’m going for a road Bengals win.

Packers v Eagles 

Another interesting game in Week 12 is the Packers visiting the Eagles in the late kickoff on Sunday night. 

We all know Aaron Rodgers loves it when the lights shine brightest and I think the Packers are a team trending in the right direction with two good performances in a row. 

They will find it tough against an excellent set of defensive backs in Philly and it will be interesting if rookie receivers Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs can get much change out of a pair of elite corner-backs in Darius Slay and James Bradberry.  

Still I think this game will be won in the trenches and coming off a loss, I expect the Eagles to go back to basics and let their O-line lead them to another victory. For this reason I suspect the Eagles will be the team singing Christmas songs in the locker room afterwards.

It is still November right? 

Just checking.