EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It’s as if the Giants found ESPN’s algorithm as insulting as the Eagles did.
Completely manhandled, utterly outclassed, shell-shocked from the opening kickoff, the G-men played like patsies in a 48-22 capitulation to a superior opponent that arrived without weakness and played even better than before.
Somebody tell Bristol.
In its power rankings last week, the World Wide Leader in Dorks listed the Cowboys as the team with the best chance in the NFL to reach and win the Super Bowl. Dallas had a 45.7% chance to win the NFC and a 27.6% chance to win it all. The pedigreed Chiefs and Bills ranked second and third, respectively. The Eagles lagged at 30.3% and 13.2%.
That’s right. Disney’s sports wing gave the Birds less than half the chance it gave the Cowboys. Must be Hurts Hate.
Granted, Dallas had players coming off injury and had looked particularly powerful lately, but ... seriously? On Sunday, the Cowboys barely beat the hapless, hopeless Texans, in Dallas.
Can’t wait to see the power rankings this week.
The Eagles can do nothing more.
They dominated a desperate, winning team in Philadelphia last week. They dominated a desperate, winning team on the road on Sunday. They have one loss after 13 games.
They’ve beaten the Vikings, only other team that had two or fewer losses entering this week’s games.
The resurgent Cowboys entered Sunday with three losses, same as the flawed Chiefs and Bills, and Eagles have beaten the ‘Boys, too.
There cannot be any argument. Not any more. The Eagles are the best team in football. Offense. Defense. Special teams. Coaching.
Security guard.
They are the most complete. Perhaps greater than the sum of their parts, but not by much.
Third-year quarterback Jalen Hurts is playing more impeccably than impressively. Miles Sanders, in a contract year, is proving himself worth the millions he will earn. He hit a career high with 144 yards Sunday and scored his 10th and 11th touchdowns. He’d scored nine in his previous three seasons combined.
Of course, ESPN’s number crunchers will still find a formula that makes the Cowboys the favorite to win the next 17 Super Bowls, even after 26 years, but whatever.
Content must be driven.
Still, the Eagles’ opponent Sunday posed a feasible threat, with a mobile quarterback in Daniel Jones, a dangerous runner in Saquon Barkley, and ...
OK. Sorry, I can’t pretend that the Giants were a feasible threat. Not against this Eagles squad.
A misty, miserable December day saw the Birds, the NFC’s best team for weeks, lay claim to the title of Best Team in Football. They barely broke a sweat in their romp at the Meadowlands, where a seven-win Giants team that started hot under new coach Brian Daboll now hasn’t won a game in a month.
The offense is averaging 41 points in the last three games. Hurts has 22 touchdown passes and three interceptions, and left MetLife to chants of “M-V-P.” Neither Sanders nor Hurts is the biggest reason the offense is rolling; it’s the offensive line, as usual.
And there’s an argument that the offense isn’t the best phase of function right now.
The Birds added a 24th takeaway Sunday. They stand at 49 sacks for the season after notching seven more against the Giants. Brandon Graham accounted for three sacks and forced the turnover.
The defense made at least one big play on almost every early Giants possession.
Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick each sacked Jones on the first Giants possession. T.J. Edwards body-slammed Richie James for a 2-yard loss on the second. Milton Williams dropped Matt Breida for a 1-yard loss on the third. Graham dropped Barkley for a 4-yard loss on the fourth. On the fifth possession, Fletcher Cox sacked Jones on the sixth and Graham got him on the eighth.
Tons of big plays. Lots of weapons. Elegant quarterbacking. Superb preparation. A smothering defense. Home, road, makes no difference.
48-22.
Stick that in your algorithm and smoke it.
