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Jones stays clean, Giants stun Eagles to inch closer toward first in NFC East

Daniel Jones
Daniel Jones put together a second-consecutive clean game to lift the Giants to a second-straight win.
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The anarchy in the NFC East continues to intensify every week in 2020 and has now hit a new fever pitch.

The Giants pulled off a 27-17 upset over the division-leading Eagles in Week 10, improving to 3-7 on the season and moving within striking distance of the top spot in the NFC East. With the loss, Philadelphia drops to 3-5-1 and saw its two-game win streak snapped.

It was the first time since 2016 in which the Giants beat the Eagles.

In a matchup that featured the two quarterbacks who have committed the most and second-most turnovers in the NFL, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones outdueled Carson Wentz with both passers putting together clean performances.

Jones was the far more efficient and explosive man under center, though, completing 21-of-28 passes for 244 yards to go with 66 rushing yards and a touchdown.

He was just a part of a successful Giants rushing attack that posted 157 yards and another two touchdowns from Wayne Gallman.

The Eagles’ ground game was just as formidable behind 85 yards from Miles Sanders and an additional 63 from Boston Scott, but Wentz and the passing game couldn’t get going despite the return of Alshon Jeffery.

Wentz completed just 21-of-37 attempts for 208 yards in the loss.

The Giants flew out of the gates as they did three weeks ago against Philadelphia, hanging up a pair of touchdowns on their first two drives of the day.

While Jones was efficient, completing 6-of-7 passes for 61 yards, it was the Giants’ rushing offense that paced their hot start — putting up 94 yards and accounting for both touchdowns.

They punched the Eagles in the mouth at the start, going 85 yards on eight plays in under four minutes, ending with Jones keeping it on an option and going 34 yards for the score.

It was the second time in four games that the Eagles allowed a quarterback to score a rushing touchdown of 30 or more yards after having not allowed a passer to run for that long of a score since 1946.

After an Eagles field goal, the Giants marched 75 drives on 13 plays, ending with Gallman leaping into the end zone from two yards out on a 4th-&-1 just three seconds into the second quarter.

The 14-3 lead provided the Giants with a double-digit lead for the sixth game in a row — though they won only two of the previous five.

Scott breathed life into the Eagles — and continued his domination against the Giants — by breaking loose for a 56-yard touchdown run just two-and-a-half minutes into the third quarter. The ensuing successful two-point conversion brought them within three points.

Following his big run, Scott had a total of 424 scrimmage yards against the Giants dating back to the start of last season, which was 117 yards more than the man in second-place, Dallas Cowboys back Ezekiel Elliott.

Jones and the Giants provided an immediate answer with Gallman’s second touchdown of the day — a one-yard rush — capping off a quick 75-yard drive sparked by consecutive completions by Jones of 27 yards to Sterling Shepard and 38 yards to Golden Tate to set up the score.

Their re-established double-digit lead quickly evaporated, though, as the Eagles punched right back on the ensuing drive with a Corey Clement five-yard touchdown rush getting them within four after a failed two-point conversion attempt.

Following a pair of punts, the Giants looked as though they got their 11-point lead back when Jones took another quarterback keeper 14 yards for a touchdown, but a holding penalty on rookie lineman Andrew Thomas negated the play. The Giants were forced to settle for a field goal, going up seven with 7:49 remaining in regulation.

They would add another one with 3:06 remaining — Graham Gano’s 20th-straight made attempt — from 44 yards out to go up 10. The score to put New York up two possessions was made possible by a 40-yard reception between Jones and Darius Slayton after forcing an Eagles’ turnover on downs just moments earlier on the Giants’ 36-yard-line.