Should the New York Giants Play Their Starters Week 18 Against the Eagles?

Last weekend, the New York Giants clinched their first playoff birth since 2016. But when the confetti was swept up and the balloons deflated, it was time to look at the team’s final game of the season against the Eagles and now the community is torn. Do you treat it like a typical game or do you avoid injuries and rest your starters?

This is the strangest week to be having this conversation. Damar Hamlin nearly died on the field Monday night and I’m sure every team in the NFL is trying to figure out if they want to play at all let alone just the starters.

But should the Giants play their starters on Sunday?

There are a few moving parts to consider. First of which is the fact that this is Brian Daboll’s first season coaching the Giants and attempting to establish a culture in a building that has had 6 different head coaches since 2014.

And in establishing a culture of toughness and all those cliche buzzwords coaches use in press conferences, you can’t take your foot off the gas in the final week and expect to just hit the switch the following week in the Wildcard Round.

This isn’t a team that’s in the playoffs annually. These guys have no idea how to win big games and they need to keep getting reps to improve both their skills and their confidence. You know what will make this Giants team feel confident heading into the playoffs? Beating the Eagles ass.

Speaking of which, fuck the Eagles. In what world could I ever sit here and say “yes, the Giants should intentionally lose to the Philadelphia Eagles”?

You cannot be a Giants fan and want to see a final score with the Eagles having more points than the Giants. I can’t sleep at night when this team loses to the Eagles. All I see is Desean Jackson returning a punt at the end of regulation when the Giants should’ve just punted out of bounds. I’m still sick.

Sure, there is a chance that a starter can get injured especially guys like Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley. The team’s success this season is 1000% thanks to the surprising health of those two guys who are typically wearing walking boots by this point in the season.

But I think this Damar Hamlin injury is the perfect example that these injuries can happen at any moment during the most routine plays.

Treat this game like every other game this season. You play to win. If you play well enough, you go up big at the half and then you get the opportunity to empty out the bench and let Tyrod Taylor go out there and do whatever he wants.

But most importantly—and I can’t stress this enough—fuck the Eagles.