2022 Week 14 Game Recap: Eagles 48, Giants 22 (by Ross Jacobs)

I have nothing cute to say about this game. It was another Eagles beatdown against a hapless opponent. Philly continues their relentless march to a division title and #1 overall seed in the NFC. Only the Cowboys can possibly stop them, but even if Dallas wins their week 16 matchup they'll still need Philly to stumble somewhere along the way. With only the Bears, Saints, and Giants still left on the schedule though, that seems unlikely.

The Giants fall to 7-5-1 and are teetering on the edge of falling out of the playoffs. This week against the Commanders is a massive game for their chances of getting in. Win and they have a chance, but they'll still likely need to beat Indy in a couple weeks. Ditto for the Commanders who are technically one spot ahead of the Giants at the moment. Both teams are hoping to not get caught by the rapidly rising Lions and the Seahawks, who, much like the Giants, have been fading away after a solid start. 

Obviously it doesn't really make a difference in the end because this NYG team has absolutely no chance of making a deep playoff run, much less winning a Super Bowl, but making the playoffs would be a really nice feeling for the fans who have to be very excited for the future of their team after the massive improvements they made in year 1 of the Brian Daboll era.

Fantasy Player Notes:

 – Jalen Hurts is the odds on favorite to win MVP this year because most people think fantasy stats equals play on the field. Hurts has been very good, no doubt about it, but I find it silly to think he's the MVP. Hurts has far more help around him than any other QB in the league, the best offensive line in the league, two elite receivers, and a very capable stable of running backs behind him. For my money I think the MVP is Mahomes or Burrow (and Herbert deserves consideration for carrying his trash team to where they are). Those are the best 3 QBs to me and then probably Josh Allen. But at least for fantasy Hurts is very likely going to be QB1 and the top overall scorer this year. Fantasy MVP is what we all really care about, right?

 – This past off-season RC asked me to do a study of Miles Sanders and his effect on Jalen Hurts. Neither he nor I were big fans of Sanders, so we wanted to see how his presence or absence might change things and also whether he was in danger of getting replaced by Boston Scott or Kenneth Gainwell.

After digging deep into the weeds I actually came to the opposite conclusion from what I expected. Here's what I had to say:

“Sanders was unfortunate in the timing of his missed games last year. If he had played in some of the easier matchups and done well we might not be talking about him needing to be replaced right now. He's averaging 5.1 ypc for his career and was as high as 5.5 last year despite missing many of the easiest opponents on the schedule. Far from confirming that Sanders should be replaced, this study has actually convinced me that Sanders is in fact a pretty good player and might have some hidden upside this year.”

“I also expect Sanders will bounce back in the TD department after getting unlucky last year. There's plenty of opportunity to go around even with Jalen Hurts taking a chunk of the rushing work.”

I also said Sanders was an RB2 most likely and he's actually RB12 in ppr ppg, a fringe RB1. I've missed a lot of things in fantasy this year (AJ Dillon) but Sanders was one of my better predictions.

 – Saquon Barkley has only gone over 40 yards once in his past 4 games. A variety of reasons have contributed to that, but he definitely hit his lowest point here against the Eagles. Barkley nearly missed the game with a neck stinger and then was knocked out of the game early on with a thigh injury but returned and took a few more carries before sitting the rest of the game as things got out of hand. 

I don't think it's an issue of him losing touches for ineffectiveness. He was simply a little banged up and things got crazy, no need to wear him out in a clear loss. In a massive game this week against the Commanders and with a week to heal up, I think we're going to see a very heavy workload for Barkley. The Ravens rushed Dobbins back this past week in a must-win game where they were desperate for offense. I expect the Giants to do the same with Barkley.

 – Somehow Richie James finished with the most targets here, but he was barely noticeable in the game and his TD came on the final drive with Tyrod Taylor throwing against the Eagles 2nd stringers in a soft defense. He's the easy throw but it's usually not going to amount for much in fantasy. The top receiver here is still Darius Slayton by a mile. He just had a tough matchup with Slay and Bradberry.

Also new to the party is Isaiah Hodgins who the Giants wisely poached from the Bills practice squad. He's been rapidly integrating with the offense and gaining playing time and targets over the past few weeks. RC has talked about Hodgins versus Gabe Davis (both guys were drafted by the Bills in 2020) and how he actually prefers Hodgins of the two. After watching here, I absolutely agree. Davis is a one-trick pony, go-deep and catch 50-50 balls. Hodgins is a much more well-rounded, professional receiver. He reminds me a little of Chris Hogan, good sized receiver without dangerous speed but with a nice slippery quality over the middle and very good hands. He'll never be a fantasy star but he is a nice 3rd or 4th piece of a passing game.

Snap Counts of Interest:

62 = Smith

58 = Brown

32 = Watkins

45 = Sanders

47 = Stoll

39 = Calcaterra

58 = James

57 = Hodgins

53 = Slayton

39 = Bellinger

23 = Breida

21 = Brightwell

20 = Barkley