The Philadelphia Eagles (14-3) are hoping the third time will be like the first two when they face the New York Giants (9-7-1) on Saturday night.
The Birds defeated their division rival twice this season, with a win giving Philadelphia a home date in the NFC Championship game. The two teams have previously met three times in a single season on four occasions – 2008, 2006, 2000, and 1981.
The Giants have never lost three times to the Eagles in a single season.
With the matchup a little over 30 hours away from kickoff, here are five burning questions.
Can the Eagles beat Giants 3 times?
San Francisco set the precedent for dominating a rival in 2022 and Philadelphia will look to duplicate that magic.
Since the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger, 24 NFL teams have defeated an opponent twice in the same season, and then faced them in the postseason.
Prior to Sunday, teams had gone 14-9 when facing a rival for the third time during the same season.
The 49ers’ win over the Seahawks increased that number to 15-9.
The Giants will visit Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday after the Eagles won both regular-season meetings, 48-22 at New York in Week 14 and 22-16 at Philadelphia in Week 18.
The Birds are favored again in this third matchup, but can they beat the same team three times in one season?
2. Can Philadelphia dominate a healthy Giants D-LIne?
Dexter Lawrence is surging and the Giants are coming to a Wild Card win over the Vikings in which they battered Kirk Cousins.
Lawrence led the team with four quarterback hits and his seven total pressures tied with Leonard Williams for the most on the unit.
The Giants recorded seven sacks on Jalen Hurts over their two regular-season meetings.
Philadelphia finished tied for 20th in the NFL with 44 sacks allowed and that was with a healthy Lane Johnson for the bulk of the season.
Can the NFL’s No. 1 rated offensive line handle the G-Men with Leonard Williams back in the lineup?
3. Will Philadelphia get back to running the football?
The Eagles were fifth in the NFL during the regular season with 147.6 yards per game.
Philadelphia has a three-headed monster at running back with Miles Sanders, Boston Scott, and Kenneth Gainwell overwhelming teams alongside quarterback Jalen Hurts.
The Giants’ run defense ranked 27th at 144.2 yards per game, and Philadelphia will need to run with a purpose to effectively avoid the pass rush of Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams, and Kayvon Thibodeaux.
4. Can Jalen Hurts be himself?
Jalen Hurts is back, and he’ll face an improved Giants defense that mixes the blitz and the coverages well, hoping to confuse even the most experienced quarterbacks.
Hurts will take the field as a playoff starter for the first time since the debacle in Tampa that saw the Eagles lose 31-15 in a matchup that forced the then-second-year quarterback to retool his mechanics.
Now an All-Pro quarterback, Hurts will look to blend a more cautious approach (shoulder), while keeping the same killer instincts that allow Philadelphia to dominate teams in the second quarter of games this season.
Can Jalen Hurts be himself on Saturday night?
5. Can Daniel Jones solve the Eagles riddle?
Jones threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns for a passer rating of 114.1 in the win over Minnesota. He also added 78 yards on a career-high 17 rush attempts to become the first quarterback in NFL postseason history with 300+ pass yards, 2+ pass touchdowns, and 70+ rush yards in a game.
Now Jones will look to solve an Eagles defense that logged a league-high 70 sacks on the season, the most any team has had in a season since 1989 (Vikings had 71) and just two shy of the 1984 Bears’ all-time NFL record.
