After a surprising season with a ton of ups-and-downs, the New York Giants entered their divisional round playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles as massive underdogs. The Eagles, on the other hand, are the number one seed, fresh off of a 15-2 season and a first-round bye. They beat the G-Men in both of their regular season matchups. Still, Giants fans were cautiously optimistic about their chances heading in. “I expected the Giants to give it their all and stay in the game,” said Northport student and Giants fan Quinn Wendol.

Sadly, the Giants did not stay in the game whatsoever. They failed to score a single point in the first half, as Philadelphia’s defense locked up New York quarterback Daniel Jones and an offense that runs on Saquon Barkley, the star half back who only got nine carries in the game. Barkley did average 6.8 yards per carry, but the Giants’ deficit prevented them from being able to afford a heavy run-game offense. The Giants scored just one touchdown in the game, a third-quarter score from backup running back Matt Breida. 

While the offense was definitely not good, going five-for-thirteen on third-down conversions, the defense did them no favors. Eagles QB Jalen Hurts threw touchdowns to Dallas Goedert and Devonta Smith in the first quarter, then ran one in at the end of the half. Giants killer Boston Scott also had a touchdown, as the game was 28-0 at halftime, over before it could really get interesting. For Scott, it was his 11th career touchdown against New York. 

With the final score being 38-7, a surprisingly successful season ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. With a rookie head coach and GM, Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen, the future is promising for the Giants. However, they have some clear needs to improve on in the offseason. Wide receiver is the most obvious; only two wideouts had over 500 receiving yards. The team relied on Richie James and Isaiah Hodgins, two players who came out of seemingly nowhere to contribute. New York made the first step, which is getting out of the gutter. They even won a road playoff game! Now, they have to stay out of the gutter.

There is no shame in losing to the Eagles, a team that will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl later this month. However, it doesn’t make the pain of losing any softer. Expected to be a last-place team, Daboll and Schoen helped turn things around. Everyone was unsure of Jones, but he became a solid quarterback in his fourth season, throwing for 3205 yards with 15 touchdowns, while also rushing for over 700 yards with an additional seven scores. Despite playing in a career-high 16 games, Jones’ five interceptions were the lowest of his career, an encouraging sight. And after missing nearly all of last season due to injury, Barkley returned and rushed for 1312 yards. With a solid defense led by Dexter Lawrence and Xavier McKinney, Giants fans have a lot to look forward to.