Another loss by winning: Eagles can hurt Giants by losing to Big Blue on Sunday

The Eagles have clinched the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs but Sunday’s season finale at Lincoln Financial Field against the last-place Giants carries a ton of significance – aside from Saquon Barkley’s pursuit of the league’s single-season rushing record against his former team.

When the Giants (3-13) visit Philadelphia (13-3) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS), the Eagles can actually score a big win by losing to New York, forcing the Giants to fall even farther in the April 25 draft order.

A Giants contingent led by general manager Joe Schoen was at the Orlando Pop-Tarts Bowl to scout quarterback Cam Ward this past week. Meanwhile, Shedeur Sanders wore red, custom-made New York Giants cleats in preparations for the Alamo Bowl. Everything was on track until … the Giants went out and registered their first home win, eliminating Indianapolis on Sunday, 45-33.

Adam Schefter told Pat McAfee on Monday that while players will always play to win games, front offices care deeply about the outcome of this Sunday’s game in Philadelphia.

“The Eagles losing is a win for the Eagles organization,” Schefter said on Monday’s Pat McAfee Show. “Now again, I want to be very clear, the players are not thinking like that. They’re going to go out and play, but you can’t tell me that organizationally, that they aren’t thinking, ‘Well, if we let the Patriots win, if we let the Giants win, if we don’t put out our best guys, if we don’t do anything to win this game and they win, their draft order crashes.’ And to get to where they want to be or where they are now, the Giants need a quarterback; everybody knows it. They’re at 4. If they win on Sunday, they’re going to roughly 10, roughly 10. How do they get to where they want to be?

“I think the Eagles care more about the Giants falling to 10 than they do about Saquon Barkley breaking Eric Dickerson’s all-time single-season rushing record.”

Unfortunately, that murky Giants future takes away from the remarkable effort turned in Sunday by quarterback Drew Lock (309 passing yards, 155.3 passer rating, four touchdown passes, one rushing TD) and wide receiver Malik Nabers (seven catches, 171 yards, two touchdowns).

Lock became only the fifth NFL player ever to register 300 passing yards, four touchdown passes, at least one rushing touchdown and a rating of 155.0 or better. Only Josh Allen (Oct. 1, 2023, with Buffalo); Drew Brees (Dec. 29, 2013, with New Orleans); Ryan Fitzpatrick (Sept. 9, 2018, with Tampa Bay); and Aaron Rodgers (Oct. 20, 2019, with Green Bay) had previously done that.

Nabers, who scored on a clutch, 59-yard touchdown to break open a close game in the fourth quarter, finished the game with 104 receptions during his rookie season. That’s tied with Jaylen Waddle (104 in 2021 with Miami) for the third-most catches by a rookie in NFL annals, trailing only Brock Bowers (108 receptions in 2024 with Las Vegas) and Puka Nacua (105 in 2023 with the Rams).

While the phenomenal Giants rookie is in a Week 18 race with Bowers for the single-season rookie receptions record, Nabers already wrapped up another mark on Sunday. He now has 13 games with at least five receptions this season and eclipsed Anquan Boldin (12 in 2003) and Terry Glenn (12 in 1996) for the most games with five-plus catches by a rookie in NFL history.

For more information on the Giants and Colts, visit the N.Y. Giants and Indianapolis team pages at ProFootballPost.com.