A year after Eagles' third-string QB killed Giants' playoff chances, Giants may be starting one vs. Eagles
Jake Fromm of the New York Giants throws a pass during the fourth quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Almost a year ago, the Giants were knocked out of playoff contention on the last day of the season because the Eagles put a third-string quarterback on the field.
On Sunday, the Giants will try to avoid having the mathematical certainty of a fifth straight year without a postseason appearance again come at the hands of the Eagles, this time in a more direct way than last year’s glancing blow.
And they may be asking their own third-string quarterback to help them accomplish it.
Jake Fromm, who wasn’t even on an active roster a month ago when these two teams met at MetLife Stadium in what turned out to be Daniel Jones’ last game of the season, seems poised to get the first start of his NFL career just a week after making his pro debut.
With the offense sputtering under the direction of backup quarterback Mike Glennon for most of the past three weeks — although to be fair, it was far from humming along in the weeks before he took over, with the Giants managing only one offensive touchdown in the two games before his promotion — it feels inevitable that Fromm will get an opportunity to infuse some life into the ghastly unit.
"I like the way he works," Joe Judge said of Fromm this week. "He has a good attitude. He definitely has a nice presence about him and some command in the huddle. He was able to get in last week, compete and do some nice things. I like the way he holds himself on the field. He was able to get out there in the game, demonstrate his ability to make quick decisions and get the ball out of his hand."
Judge has yet to publicly announce who will start at quarterback on Sunday. Perhaps one of the reasons for that is the scar that remains from Nate Sudfeld.
Entering the final game of the 2020 regular season, the Eagles already had been eliminated from playoff contention, but if Philadelphia could beat Washington, the Giants — who had beaten the Cowboys earlier in the day — would clinch the NFC East title.
With Philadelphia trailing by three points early in the fourth quarter, Eagles coach Doug Pederson benched Jalen Hurts, who already had run for two touchdowns, and put in Sudfeld, to the surprise of many and to the dismay of the Giants.
Sudfeld threw an interception on his second pass, fumbled a low snap on the next possession to set up a Washington field goal, took a couple of sacks to stall out the next drive and moved the ball 24 yards in 56 seconds on the game's final possession, completing a checkdown pass for 6 yards to run out the clock in Washington's 20-14 win. That eliminated the Giants, improved the Eagles' draft position and put Washington in the postseason.
Pederson's rationale? "Nate's been here for four years and I wanted to get him some playing time."
Judge, in what may have been the apex of his popularity as the Giants' coach, blasted the Eagles the following day.
"To disrespect the game by going out there and not competing for 60 minutes and not doing everything you can to help those players win, we will never do that as long as I am the head coach of the New York Giants," Judge vowed. "[It’s important] to look at a group of grown men who I ask to give me effort on a day-in and day-out basis and to empty the tank, and then I can look them in the eye and assure them that I am always going to do everything I can to put them at a competitive advantage and play them at a position of strength . . . We can’t put them on the field and not do everything in our power to give them every advantage possible."
Which brings us back to Fromm.
He may prove to be better than Glennon. He may spark the team the way he did his Georgia squad when he started for them as a true freshman. He certainly has a lot of moxie and appears to be, as wide receiver Kenny Golladay noted, "fearless" on the field.
But does he fit into the Judge Doctrine of playing 60 minutes with your best effort, the philosophy made ever so public a year ago because of the Eagles’ quarterback decision?
Fromm starting clearly is more about seeing what he might have for the future. Judge needed the week of practices to make sure the call jibed with giving the Giants the best chance to win on Sunday, and to convince the rest of the roster that he is not abandoning the 2021 season with three games remaining.
"There’s only one way to play the game," safety Logan Ryan said. "There’s only one way, it’s to give it your all and give it your best . . . Last year, whether they were competing or not, I know we’re going to go out there and compete and try to win the game."
If Judge starts Fromm for the wrong reasons, perceived or real, he’ll be no better than Pederson was a year ago. He hasn’t won a lot of games with the Giants, but the foundation he continues to believe he has built for the organization would crumble.
But as long as it’s for the right reason — to give the Giants the best chance to beat the Eagles in this particular game — Fromm should get the chance to show what he is capable of doing.
Wait a second, you may be saying after reading that article. The four-win Giants are still alive for the final NFC wild-card spot?
Barely. It’s a less than 1% chance. And a lot has to happen in their favor just to get to next week with the same minimal mathematical feasibility.
First of all, if they lose to or tie the Eagles, they’re out.
Even if they do win — and they haven’t won in Philadelphia since 2013, so it’s hard to count on that happening — they will need some help to stay in contention. Minnesota, Atlanta, Washington and New Orleans all have to lose for them to go into Week 17 with a still exceedingly thin shred of hope. Minnesota and Atlanta will play at the same time as the Giants, so the Giants could be eliminated before their game even ends.
“Nobody’s talking about elimination,” safety Logan Ryan said. “We’re going to try to beat the Eagles. I think the Giants and Eagles is enough there to get everyone riled up to play . . . It’s an important game for them, but it’s an important game for us, too.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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