Eagles vs. Giants, 35-30: Full highlights, final score and more

The Eagles sans Chip Kelly went into MetLife Stadium and spoiled the Giants’ season finale

As you would expect with the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles facing off in Week 17, the two NFC East opponents weren’t exactly in the business of being defensive stalwarts in their season finale. However, that made for an exciting afternoon of football in MetLife Stadium, even with nothing on the line in terms of the postseason.

The Eagles jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter as Eli Manning and the Giants struggled to get anything going in what is expected to be Tom Coughlin’s final game as the head coach in New York. DeMarco Murray broke off a 54-yard touchdown rush on the Eagles’ opening drive of the afternoon and Darren Sproles capped off an 85-yard drive at the end of the quarter to give Philly a 14-3 lead going into the second quarter.

However, the Giants weren’t about to roll over against their division rivals as Josh Brown added another field goal early in the quarter and then capitalized on an interception with a touchdown pass to Will Tye. Though the Eagles responded with a touchdown pass to Jordan Matthews, Rashad Jennings kept things in the Giants’ favor going into halftime as he finished a monster first half with a two-yard touchdown run to keep New York down one at halftime.

The Giants again came out firing in the first half with a long touchdown pass to Rueben Randle, but then the Eagles’ defense actually came up with the biggest play of the game when Walter Thurmond picked off Eli and took it 83 yards to the house to give the Eagles the 28-27 lead. After another Eagles touchdown drive, they held a 35-27 lead midway through the fourth quarter and were firmly in control.

Though the Giants added a field goal late in the fourth quarter, they needed a defensive stop late in the game with only a couple of minutes left on the clock. Surprisingly, the defense got the stop and gave the Giants the ball back with 1:41 left to play. Unfortunately, Manning and co. couldn’t get anything working and turned the ball over on downs to end their season and possibly Coughlin’s career with a loss.

Three stars

Zach Ertz has a monster day in the passing game for the Eagles. Though Jordan Matthews got both of the receiving touchdowns, Ertz led the team in catches and yardage as he caught nine balls for 152 yards.

Speaking of Matthews, Jordan Matthews wasn’t hugely productive in terms of yardage, but performed well with seven catches for 54 yards and two touchdowns.

Rashad Jennings was a monster in the running game for the Giants. He carried the ball 27 times for a monstrous 170 yards and a touchdown against the porous Eagles defense.

Highlights

"Eli Manning throws it up… Walter Thurmond picks it and takes it 83 yards to the"

Odds

The Giants were five-point favorites heading into this matchup, a spread they obviously failed to cover in the loss. The two teams did hit the over on the 51-point O/U line, though.

Next Week

Both the Eagles and Giants are done for the year, failing to make the postseason.