NFL Week 17, and the playoff chase in general, can make for some strange bedfellows.
Such is the case of the New York Giants, who, after defeating Dallas on Sunday afternoon, now need the Philadelphia Eagles to defeat the Washington Football Team on Sunday Night Football. The WFT wins the NFC East if they win or tie, but if Philly wins, Big Blue wins the NFC East.
And so, count the G-Men among the Birds’ biggest fans tonight.
“I won’t be caught dead in an Eagles hat, but I will be rooting for them with my family at home watching the game,” wide receiver Sterling Shepard said. “No matter how it shakes out tonight, I’m proud of this team. We did what we had to do today to give ourselves a chance to win this thing, and whatever happens, happens.”
“I can’t say I’ve ever been in a situation quite like this, but we’ll be watching closely on the edge of our seats and hoping for Philly to win,” quarterback Daniel Jones added. “We’ll see what happens, but there’s not much we can do now other than watch.”
A Philly win means the Giants would host Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucs sometime on Wild Card Weekend, and Joe Judge had a simple message for his team as they head home for the first Sunday night of 2021.
“Ultimately, whatever happens tonight, let’s be ready to come in to work tomorrow in case something happens,” Judge said. “We had opportunities for 16 weeks, but we came in to a meaningful game today, and our guys took care of business.”
Judge praised the progress his team made over the season, especially in rallying from a 1-7 start to even get to 6-10, and Shepard, too, was overjoyed with the season’s finish no matter what happens tonight.
“I’ve been on teams where you let things just go downhill after you start the season the way we did. That’s why I’m so proud of this team; we never had one guy hang their head or throw in the towel,” Shepard said. “It was always that we were going to fight and try to win the next game. We took it one game at a time, and stayed at an even pace, even when we got on that winning streak.”
And in case you, as a Big Blue fan, feel dirty about rooting for Philly…well, just take this from Staten Island Borough President Jimmy Oddo, who made the following proclamation at the request of WFAN’s own Craig Carton:
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