PHILADELPHIA — There are no moral victories in the NFL. Progress is not enough.
The Giants somewhat closed the gaping gap on the Eagles, falling to their despised rival, 33-25, at Lincoln Financial Field.
Monday’s Christmas Day matchup was the first time the sides clashed since the Eagles eliminated the Giants from the playoffs with a 38-7 shellacking in the NFC Divisional Round last year, the last of three losses to Philadelphia last season.
Close doesn’t cut it, but it’s a start. Yet it’s hard to see it that way.
Not when the Giants have now lost 10 straight to the Eagles and Cowboys, their two most-despised adversaries and the clear class of the NFC East.
“Didn’t close it,” Saquon Barkley said. “Clearly shows. We played the Cowboys twice, got beat. Fought a really good game here, got beat. Not saying anything negative, that’s the truth. If this team, this franchise wants to go where we want to go we got to start beating these teams.”
Monday’s loss marked the Giants’ 11th straight at Lincoln Financial Field, where they haven’t won since 2013.
It was the Giants’ fifth-straight loss in the rivalry overall, and they’re now 6-26 in the past 32 matchups with the Eagles. Barkley himself is now 0-6 at the Linc and 1-9 overall.
“The last couple of years — not just the last couple of years, I feel like everyone’s trying to make it like a recent thing — the last decade … we haven’t beaten Philly and we struggle with Dallas,” Barkley said. “That’s just the truth.”
The Giants appeared set for another blowout loss at halftime, similar to how last year’s playoff loss quickly unraveled.
They trailed 20-3, had just 101 total yards and were 1-for-8 on third down.
But they clawed their way back into the game, aided by Boston Scott’s fumble on the second-half kickoff. The Giants got the ball on the Eagles’ 14-yard-line and used three consecutive Barkley runs to score and cut the deficit to 20-10.
A 76-yard pick-six from Adoree’ Jackson later in the third quarter along with a two-point conversion cut it again to 20-18.
“Worried at halftime? It’s a 60-minute game,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “Competitive game. Give them credit.”
All of a sudden, the Giants made it a game.
But, like nearly every matchup between these teams in recent memory, they couldn’t get over the hump.
“I feel you can measure the gap in so many different ways,” Darren Waller said. “It was a game that was down to the wire. You can compare talent. We were right there with a chance to win at the end.”
The Giants will get another shot at the Eagles in the season finale Jan. 7 at MetLife.