Eagles dominate Giants to advance to NFC Championship Game

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Eagles dominate Giants to advance to NFC Championship Game

The Eagles are one win away from going to the Super Bowl — and if they play like they did on Saturday it is hard to see any team stopping them from winning it.

The Eagles came out and dominated the New York Giants on Saturday night, jumping out to a 14-0 lead and holding on for a 38-7 victory, a win that sends them to the NFC Championship Game next Sunday at 3 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field.

The performance was everything fans have been waiting to see after a bad month to finish the season.

Jalen Hurts looked like the MVP he was before the injury and the offense did whatever they wanted through the air and on the ground.

The defense dominated the Giants and hit Daniel Jones so hard that at one point his contact fell out, holding the Giants to zero first-half points and ending any hope they had almost right away.

It was by far the most complete, dominating team-performance this team has had in weeks and should be a reminder to the rest of the NFL that when they are at their best the Eagles look like easily the best team in the league.

Now the Eagles wait to see who they will be facing next Sunday -- the Dallas Cowboys or the San Francisco 49ers.

There will be plenty of time to preview that matchup, but for now, here is a recap of what happened on Saturday night:

1st Quarter: Eagles 14, Giants 0
The Eagles like to kick the ball off, but after losing the toss, they got the ball to start the game — and they made the most of it.

A 40-yard completion from Jalen Hurts to DeVonta Smith got the drive going, and by the time Dallas Goedert made an amazing one-handed catch for the touchdown, the offense had completed a 8-play, 75-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead. Jalen Hurts looked great on the drive, hitting Smith with a perfect pass, and looking more than willing to run when needed.

The defense came out equally as on fire. Haason Reddick got sacks on back-to-back plays, with the second one coming on 4th-and-8, to force the Giants off the field on their opening drive.

The offense went right back down the field on their second possession, going 52-yard on eight plays easily, ending it with a 9-yard touchdown to DeVonta Smith. Nick Sirianni, Shane Steichen and Hurts put on a clinic in the first quarter against a Giants defense that looked lost trying to stop them.

The big plays kept coming in the first quarter as on the Giants second drive Jonathan Gannon sent a blitz right up the middle, forcing Daniel Jones to rush a pass and throw it right into the hands of James Bradberry for the easy interception.

2nd Quarter: Eagles 28, Giants 0
The domination continued into the second quarter — and as always is the case against the Giants, Boston Scott helped make it happen.

Scott ran it in from three-yards with just under eight minutes to play in the second quarter, capping off a nine-play, 63-yard drive to give the Eagles a commanding 21-0 lead. The crazy part? The 21-0 score didn’t even really show how dominant the Eagles were, as they completely outclassed the Giants on both sides of the ball time-and-time again.

Meanwhile on defense the Eagles continued to shut down the Giants as Saquon Barkley had just seven total yards on his first four carries. Overall the Giants totaled just 55 yards on their first 16 plays, with the defensive line dominating and the secondary holding up, giving Jones nowhere to go with the ball.

The Eagles kept it going on offense, making it 28-0 by running it right at the Giants all the way down the field, ending the drive with a five-yard touchdown run by Hurts. By the time the Eagles had the 28-0 lead they had 259 yards to just 64 for the Giants.

3rd Quarter: Eagles 28, Giants 7
The Giants finally got the ball moving in the third quarter, using a 39-yard run by Barkley on the opening possession to get into Eagles territory. They finished the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run by Matt Brieda to pull within 28-7 with just over six minutes to play in the third quarter. Giving up a touchdown isn’t ideal but the Giants killing six minutes off the clock to do so made the drive a bit of a positive for the Eagles considering the big lead.

The touchdown was the only notable event of the quarter, which was great news for the Eagles, as with a 28-0 lead at halftime the main goals of the second half were clear — kill time and stay healthy.

4th Quarter: Eagles 38, Giants 7
The Giants essentially gave up on the game when they punted from their own 42-yard line down 21 points, an obvious go-for it situation if they were still trying to win the game.

The Eagles got the ball after that punt and proceeded to kill seven-plus off the clock, ending even the slimmest chance the Giants had of coming back. A telling play on the drive was a first-down run by Gainwell where it took four Giants defenders to bring him down — a sign that despite being up big the Eagles were still playing harder than the Giants at the end of the game.

https://www.audacy.com/94wip/sports/eagles/eagles-dominate-giants-to-advance-to-nfc-championship-game