2020 Dynasty/Fantasy Week 10 Game Analysis: Giants 27, Eagles 17
I take notes during the live watch. I re-watch the game on tape looking for hidden clues to report on. Here are my notes/takes on what I saw and how it related to FF 2020. I write anywhere from 1,000-3,000+ words on each game, and I must move fast to get to all of them through the week…so, please forgive any typos/grammar.
This game really struck a chord with me, a very telltale, pivotal game that I think could change the Eagles management/team for 2021+.
Consider the backdrop going into this game…
The Eagles went in leading the much-maligned NFC East with 3 wins, and the rest of the division had 2 wins. Philly facing NYG in a game that gave them a chance to leap to 4 wins, effectively putting down the much maligned Giants, and really pushing away with the division. All the Eagles had to do was win this Week 10 game…beat the lowly Giants, a team without Saquon Barkley AND with Daniel Jones at QB on purpose. Plus, the Eagles just had an extra week to prepare and got back healthy a couple players.
This had to be a game that the Eagles stormed in off the jump and put the Giants away with impunity and thus send a statement.
The exact opposite of all of that happened.
It would be one thing if the Giants got a fluky fumble, or a tipped INT pick-six, or whatever luck could fall their way to get out to a lead…even so, a superior, well-prepared Eagles team would overcome that and win this game. Instead, the Giants rammed it down the Eagles’ throats…it was 14-3 NYG at halftime, probably the worst the Eagles have looked all year (and that’s saying something).
The Eagles climbed back into it, as you would expect from a (supposed) superior team, just down 21-17 with 20+ minutes left of play. Surely, the Eagles would win this. The Giants stuffed the Eagles for the final 20 minutes and extended their lead to double-digits and really WON this game. No luck – just the Giants, who are not good, being the better team.
If I were the General Manager of this Eagles team, strike that…if I were the owner of the Eagles team, I would have watched this game in the context and then decided I was going to fire everyone and trade Carson Wentz in the offseason, unless a miracle playoff run occurred at season’s end. We could make a lot of valid excuses for Philly – all the O-Line and WR/TE injuries, etc. But there was no excuse for being outplayed by the Giants in this spot – outplayed, and out-efforted. The Giants played like the more confident, urgent, sound team…whereas the Eagles just slept through this HUGE game.
Doug Pederson should be under the gun big time for this game, for this team laying such an egg (on top of how this whole season is going). Carson Wentz, the verdict is in – you are not the leader of men to take this team to the next level. You are a solid, gritty QB…but you did not deserve to replace Nick Foles after the Super Bowl season. And for that, and the sad state of this roster and now coaching staff – the GM should get the boot as well. A fresh ‘reboot’ is needed. Doug Pederson deserves to coach again; Wentz deserves another chance too…just not here. It’s time for a change.
The funny thing is, the Eagles are in great shape to win the division at (3-5-1). The Giants are at 3 wins too, but at (3-7). The Eagles have a game lead, or more in a sense. They have the upper hand in the NFC East. However, their schedule does not bode well. If they lose to at CLE this week, then I don’t think the Eagles will win this division. If Philly loses Week 11, they then face SEA, at GB, NO, at ARI the following 4 weeks. They could be (3-10-1) after Week 15 if they lose to CLE this week…but still possibly just be a game out of first place. Beating CLE this week gives them some cushion to lose their next four in a row and still be OK. We see them finishing with 6 wins…and that could be good enough to win the division because (6-9-1) will beat (6-10).
The Giants played really well here, considering the team that they have…and that’s been true all year. One of the best defenses in the NFL, as we’ve been discussing since about Weeks 3-4, all while they were mocked by all the analysts. NYG needs to find 4 wins their final 6 games to get to 7 wins. It’s not likely, considering their schedule ahead. We see 6 wins max., and that may leave them a half game short of the NFC East, but that’s with the big IF that Philly gets to 6 wins too.
The Giants are the best team in the NFC East…I just don’t know if there is enough time for them to pass Philly to claim it.
Fantasy Player Notes…
-- Carson Wentz (21-37 for 208 yards, 0 TD/0 INT) played some bad football here. He had some of his best weapons back, so that excuse is off the table.
Wentz is becoming new-Jameis (Winston) – so much better down 14-21 points and scrapping to a close loss with garbage points late. Some of Wentz’s issue was an emerging great Giants defense…some of it is that Wentz is a ‘C’ QB that analysts still proclaim is an ‘A’ because he had a hot stretch of games in 2017. Since 2018, the Eagles are 17-18-1 with him as a starter…in a weak division. This season, he now has 12 TDs/12 INTs total in 9 starts with 58.1% Comp. Pct.
Justin Herbert and Russell Wilson and Joe Burrow have bad O-Lines too…they don’t ever look like they are bust QBs, but Wentz does every other series.
Jalen Hurts (2-0-0) SHOULD be inserted Week 12 if they lose Week 11 at CLE, but he won’t be. I’ve seen this a million times in the NFL with head coaches, Doug Pederson, for right or for wrong, is going down on the Wentz ship. So, much so that Hurts looks like he has not been developed or prepared for such an event…on purpose, in a sense. However, the new age QBs…they don’t need ‘reps’ and practice with the 1s, if they’re good enough they’ll just step in like they’ve been there for years (see: Herbert, Burrow, Luton, Tua).
I know this, once Hurts goes in…the city will not let Pederson change back. I think he knows that and is trying to make it NOT happen, yet. The Eagles will probably win the division, so Pederson will believe he was right all along. BUT a loss at CLE is likely going to lead to a change…even if that is Pederson fired and an assistant elevated after a CLE loss.
-- I’ll judge the WRs/TEs as if Wentz is going to be there for a while but note everything goes ‘up in the air’ if Hurts takes over – totally different style of offense.
Alshon Jeffrey (0-0-0/1) debuted/2020 and nobody cared. He doesn’t want to be there, nor do they want him there…why they didn’t cut him prior is beyond me.
Jalen Reagor (4-47-0/7) is going to pop one of these weeks…when a better matchup occurs, but the problem is he has a bunch of bad matchups ahead. You know who covered Reagor here? Defensive Player of the Year candidate James Bradberry. Why is that important? Because it explains Reagor’s ‘meh’ numbers AND it lets you know the opponents know who the top WR is for Wentz.
Reagor has a problem with Denzel Ward this week, but then Week 12 v. SEA (with Wentz) will project nicely. Week 14 with Marshon Lattimore is an issue, maybe. Week 15 v. Patrick Peterson, not great.
Dallas Goedert (4-33-0/6) looked really good here. Gave me renewed faith in him. Wentz needs to attack with Goedert more. I was very much encouraged by what I saw here, but still Goedert is a random evet week-to-week because of Wentz.
What happened to Travis Fulgham (1-8-0/5) as the best WR in football? Not sure. The Giants have a good defense is all I can say. He benefits from Reagor now taking the top coverage. Give him grace, he’s been consistently very good/great for several weeks prior.
-- Dare I say that Daniel Jones (21-28 for 244 yards, 0 TD/0 INT, 9-64-1) is the better fantasy QB than Carson Wentz now?
I mean, Jones is a horrific passer…like the Manning’s, and their dumb Academy, should be utterly ashamed of themselves for endorsing this train wreck…but he can run the ball a little bit. 60+ yards rushing in 3 of his last 4 games. Can I say this – Jones might be better or ‘same’ for fantasy as/than Lamar Jackson, doing the same things…bad passing, heavy running.
Jones is running more on purpose, because that’s all he brings to the table. Wentz was doing that weeks ago but stopped like Week 7 on.
-- For fantasy 2020, right now…
Daniel Jones > Carson Wentz
And
Wayne Gallman (18-53-2, 1-7-0/2) > Miles Sanders (15-850, 2-10-0/5)
Welcome to 2020!!
Gallman has rushed for a TD in four straight games, 5 TDs in four games.
-- The Eagles ILBs were the best FF thing out there this week…
Alex Singleton (16 tackles, 1 TFL) has started four games in a row, and has averaged 9.3 tackles, 0.75 QB hits, 0.25 TFLs per game.
T.J. Edwards (12 tackles) is becoming a tackling machine for the amount of snaps he’s playing. He’s started the last two weeks and played 75%+ of the snaps each game, for the first time all year at those snap %’s…and he has 12.5 total tackles per game in those two games.
Snap Counts of Interest:
42 = Gallman
15 = Morris
62 = Goedert
21 = Rodgers
48 = Sanders
18 = B Scott
