The 3-7 Giants take on their arch rival, the 5-6 Eagles on Sunday. These two teams have no love for each other, and this is their first meeting since former Eagle Head Coach Doug Pederson played backup quarterback Nate Sudfeld in the 4th quarter of their meeting with the Washington Football Team last year. This helped lead to WFT winning, which effectively ended the Giants hopes of making the playoffs. Now, did the 6-10 Giants deserve to make the playoffs? Probably not, but from a fans perspective, why not add a little fuel to fire. The Giants technically are still in the playoff hunt, but playoffs or not, this team could use a victory to help the morale of the team overall after being blown out by Tampa Bay on Monday. To get ready for Sunday’s showdown, let’s kick it back to another time when the Giants and Eagles were battling for a possible playoff birth while displaying not so great records.
1987 was an interesting year in the National Football League. Following the first two weeks of the season, players went on strike, leading to replacement players playing from weeks 4-6. I bet some of you didn’t know the classic movie from 2000, The Replacements, was actually based off a true story. The defending Super Bowl Champion Giants started off 0-2 in 1987, before the replacement players took over, leading to an 0-5 start. The Eagles also got off to a poor start at 1-4. This made the road to the playoffs increasingly difficult for both of these teams. The Giants won their initial matchup with the Eagles in week 10, 20-17. A few weeks later, in week 13, the Giants and Eagles were able to put on a classic game in a storied rivalry.
By the time the Giants and Eagles met in week 13, the Washington Redskins had a tight hold on the division lead, and the Giants would need a lot to go right in order to sneak into the playoffs. Sound familiar? There’s similarities between this meeting and the 2021 Giants, except in 1987, the Giants were coming off a super bowl victory the year prior, and it showed. Tight End Mark Bavaro would carry the Giants offensively, catching 6 balls for 133 yards and a touchdown. The Giants defense was what really helped earn them the win in this one. The Giants would combine for 8 total sacks against Randall Cunningham and the Eagles offense, including 2.5 from linebacker Carl Banks. Despite the defense’s solid play, they allowed the Eagles to come back from a 20-6 deficit in the 4th quarter which forced the game to overtime. Giants kicker Raul Allegre was able to seal the deal in overtime with a 23-yard field goal, leading to a 23-20 victory for the New York Giants.
The 1987 Giants failed to make the playoffs, but that didn’t change the fact that a season sweep of the Eagles still felt good. Fast forward to 2021, and the Giants are a long shot to make the playoffs. The team is reeling, as the offensive coordinator has been fired, and the future of the head coach and quarterback is very much unknown. One thing that everyone knows for sure is this:
Beating the Eagles always feels good.
(Photo: Big Blue Interactive)
Highlights to this Classic:
