The Eagles–Giants rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. The rivalry began in 1933 with the founding of the Eagles, and slowly strengthened when both teams came to relative prominence in the 1940s and 1950s. The two teams have played in the same division in the NFL every year since 1933. The ferocity of the rivalry can also be attributed to the geographic New York-Philadelphia rivalry, which is mirrored in Major League Baseball's Mets–Phillies rivalry and the National Hockey League's Flyers–Rangers rivalry. It is ranked by NFL Network as the number one rivalry of all-time and Sports Illustrated ranks it amongst the top ten NFL rivalries of all-time at number four, and according to ESPN, it is one of the fiercest and most well-known rivalries in the football community.
The Giants lead the series 86–82–2. This includes the four times the Eagles and Giants have faced each other in the playoffs with a 2–2 tie. The following is a list of results from all of the meetings between the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants from their first meeting on October 15, 1933 to the present:
The Giants-Eagles rivalry was one sided in the 1930s, with the Giants taking a point advantage of 256-102. The Eagles won the 1940s by a 410-368 count, bringing the total Giants advantage down to a 624-512 spread. But the Giants outscored the Eagles 410-320 in the 1950s, and 428-375 in the 1960s, and led by over 250 points at 1,462-1,207 by the end of the 60's. The Eagles outscored the Giants in the 1970s 411-341, bringing the difference back under 200 at 1,803-1,618. But the Giants narrow win in the 1980s at 370-355, put them back over the 200 point edge at 2,173-1,973 in the regular season, or a 2,200-1,994 edge if the first Giants-Eagles playoff game held in the 1981 season is included. The Eagles brought the edge back under 200 with a 384-361 win in the 1990s, making the total Giants advantage 2,534-2,357 in the regular season, and 2,561-2,378 with playoffs included. In the first decade of the new millennium, the Eagles outscored the Giants 435-385 in the regular season, and outscored the Giants 56-51 in three playoff meetings. That brought the total Giants advantage to 2,997-2,869, or 2,919-2,792 in the regular season only. Through the 2015 season, the Eagles have outscored the Giants 290-245 in this decade, bringing the overall Giants edge under 100 points to 3,242-3,159, or 3,164-3,082 in regular season games only. The Eagles took the Giants overall advantage under 100 points in their 27-7 victory on October 19, 2015 in Philadelphia- the first time the total rivalry score had been within 100 points since October 3, 1937- a span of over 78 years.
The Eagles–Giants rivalry is the oldest rivalry in the NFC East, dating back to 1933. It is considered by some to be the best rivalry in the NFL in the 21st century.
Ernie Accorsi, general manager of the Giants from 1998 until his retirement after the 2006 season, saw his first NFL game between the teams back in 1951 in his native Hershey, Pa., and grew up as an Eagles fan.
In a 1960 game, the Eagles' Chuck Bednarik cleanly blindsided Giants running back Frank Gifford, sending Gifford into an 18-month retirement due to a severe concussion.
On November 19, 1978 at Giants Stadium, the Giants were leading the Eagles 17-12 with 20 seconds remaining. Offensive coordinator Bob Gibson called for a running play when all that was needed was for the Giants to take a knee. The handoff between quarterback Joe Pisarcik and Larry Csonka was fumbled and Eagles cornerback Herman Edwards grabbed the loose ball and returned it for the winning score. This play is commonly referred to as The Miracle at the Meadowlands by Eagles fans and just "The Fumble" by Giants fans.
In 1981, both the Giants and the defending NFC champion Eagles qualified for a playoff berth. The Eagles hosted the Giants on December 27 in a Wild Card game. The Giants, led by quarterback Scott Brunner and head coach Ray Perkins, took a 20-0 lead in the first quarter. The Eagles rallied but never led and the Giants held on to win 27-21. The game ended with Scott Brunner kneeling down on the ball, which was a fitting revenge for the Joe Pisarcik game some 3 years earlier. The Giants would go on to lose to the San Francisco 49ers, the eventual Super Bowl XVI champions, 38-24.
The 1988 NFL Season saw both teams competing for the NFC East title. On November 20, 1988, the Giants hosted the Eagles with both teams in the running for control over their division. The Eagles, led by head coach Buddy Ryan and quarterback Randall Cunningham, fought a tough match to bring the game into overtime with the score tied at 17-17. In overtime, Eagles defensive lineman Clyde Simmons carried the ball 15 yards after a blocked Eagles field goal attempt for the game-winning touchdown, completing the Eagles' season sweep of the Giants. Both teams finished with identical 10-6 records, but the Eagles won the NFC East due to their head-to-head victory, while the Giants lost the wild card tiebreaker to the Los Angeles Rams and missed the playoffs. The Eagles would lose to the Chicago Bears in a game famously known as the Fog Bowl.
On October 31, 1999 at Veterans Stadium in overtime, Eagles Quarterback Doug Pederson had his pass blocked up in the air and was intercepted by Michael Strahan and returned for a 44-yard touchdown to win the game for the Giants 23-17
On January 7, 2001, the Giants defeated the Eagles 20-10 in a Divisional Playoff game due to Ron Dixon's 97-yard kickoff return and Jason Sehorn's acrobatic 32-yard interception return. This win would help propel the Giants to Super Bowl XXXV which they ultimately lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-7.
In the two teams' first meeting of the 2006 season, Philadelphia held a 17-point lead going into the fourth quarter. However, the Giants rallied to tie the game, and go into overtime. In overtime, Giants quarterback Eli Manning threw a game winning touchdown pass to wide receiver Plaxico Burress, and the Giants won 30-24. In the second meeting, the Eagles, led by backup quarterback Jeff Garcia (who had replaced starter Donovan McNabb due to an injury to McNabb a few weeks earlier) enacted their revenge with a 36-22 victory, which was capped with DE Trent Cole intercepting a pass from Manning (who was getting hit and he ended up throwing the ball up in the air) and returning it for a touchdown. They would meet for a third time in the 2006–2007 playoffs, where the Giants rallied to tie the game at 20 in a late fourth quarter drive; the Eagles then executed a textbook late-game rush-oriented drive and won on a game-ending field goal, 23-20.
The two teams split their 2008 meetings. The Giants rallied to edge the Eagles in Philly 36-31, then the Eagles stymied New York's offense en route to a 20-14 win at Giants Stadium. They met again on January 11, 2009 in the 2008 NFC Divisional Playoffs at Giants Stadium, the fourth career playoff matchup between the two as #6 seed Philadelphia Eagles defeated the top-seeded New York Giants 23-11, leaving the series tied 2-2 in the playoffs; it was also the 11th time in the 2000s that the road team won.
On December 19, 2010, the Giants led the Eagles 31-10 with 7:28 left in the first game between the teams at New Meadowlands Stadium where first place in the NFC East was on the line. But the Eagles would rally to tie the score, then win the game on DeSean Jackson's 65 yard punt return for a touchdown with no time left on the clock for a shocking 38-31 victory. The Elias Sports Bureau also believes that this is the first walk-off punt return in NFL history. The Giants went on to miss the playoffs, despite finishing tied for first with the Eagles at 10-6, and the Eagles lost their last two games.
Giants and Eagles played on Sunday night of week 3 of the 2012 season. The game was at 0-0 by the first two-minute warning. Giants and Eagles both picked up on offense since then and Eagles gained a 19-17 lead with little time remaining for Manning and the Giants to lead a late fourth quarter drive which they'd seemed to master. Giants failed to get to great field goal range, and so Lawrence Tynes attempted a 52-yard field goal. He missed it but the play was ruled off as Andy Reid called time out. He gave it another shot and hit it dead in the middle, but not far enough.
In the December 30, 2012 game with the third largest margin of victory (35 points) between these two teams, Eli Manning set two new personal records. Most points scored in 1st quarter of a game (21) and most points scored in the first half (28). He also set a season high 5 touchdowns, giving Rueben Randle his first 2-touchdown game, and fullback Henry Hynoski his first NFL touchdown.
In the two teams' October 6, 2013 meeting, Michael Vick rushed for 79 yards and threw for 105 but was lost for the game in the second quarter with a hamstring injury. Backup Nick Foles came in and threw for 197 yards; when the Giants erased a 19-7 gap, Foles led three scoring drives, two of them touchdowns to DeSean Jackson and Brent Celek. The Eagles won 36-21, giving the Giants their first 0-5 start since 1979.
The teams would meet again on October 27, 2013 where the Giants won 15-7, knocking Vick out of the game and allowing only a special teams touchdown. Terrell Thomas won NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts (11 tackles, one forced fumble). The loss was Philadelphia's tenth straight at home.
The Eagles on October 12, 2014 authored the first shutout in the series since a 20-0 loss in 1998, and their first shutout win in the series since 1996, winning 27-0. Quarterback Nick Foles threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns while he and three Eagles backs rushed for 203 yards (led by LeSean McCoy's 149 yards). The Giants failed on a fourth and goal attempt in the third quarter following a Foles interception; even worse, wide receiver Victor Cruz suffered a season-ending injury on the play. (This would lead to an off-field episode in the rivalry, as the cover of the next morning's New York Daily News showed a cheering Eagles employee and the fallen Cruz under the headline "PHILTHY!", implying that the man was celebrating the injury rather than the result of the play.) Eli Manning was held to 151 yards and backup Ryan Nassib connected for 60 yards.
On December 28, 2014, The Eagles beat the Giants 34-26 in a game that was closely contested all game long. Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns, while Giants quarterback Eli Manning threw for 429 yards. Odell Beckham Jr. had 12 catches for 185 yards and caught Manning's only touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. It is the first time since 2010 that the Eagles had swept the season series over the Giants.
The Eagles and Giants would meet on MNF for the first time since the season in 2015. Philadelphia won 27-7, thanks to an outstanding performance by the Eagles defense. After a near perfect opening Touchdown-drive for the Giants led by Eli Manning; New York would not score another point. CB Nolan Carroll also intercepted Manning and would take it to the house for a pick six that ultimately led to the Giants demises. This game would also mark DeMarco Murray's first 100-yard game as an Eagle.
Rookie Carson Wentz threw two picks against the Giants setting up 14 points as the Giants never looked back as they handled the Eagles at Metlife for the first time since 2012 in their 42-7 win and first victory since their 15-7 win in 2013. Then on their second meeting of the year on week 16, now on a TNF, the Eagles that was 5-9 and already out of the playoffs, opened 14 points in 8min in the first quarter with a 25-yard run by Darren Sproles and a pic 6 by Malcolm Jenkins. Giants (10-5) never take the lead and loss (24-19) with the third Eli's interception of the game. This victory confirmed Dallas clinched top seed in NFC with a 12-2 record.
The 2009 film Big Fan depicts a Giants fan (Patton Oswalt) and his bitter rivalry with an Eagles fan (Michael Rapaport).
