3 Most Important Matchups for Eagles in Divisional Playoffs vs. Giants

In the playoffs, matchups are everything. When you are playing a team for the third time this season, that's especially true.

The Philadelphia Eagles will begin their Super Bowl campaign with a divisional-round matchup against the New York Giants. The Eagles won both regular-season matchups, so they'll need to go 3-0 against Brian Daboll's team to avoid an early exit.

The Giants showed they aren't a team to be taken lightly on Wild Card Weekend. They stunned the Minnesota Vikings 31-24 on the road just one week after a 22-16 loss against the Eagles while they were resting multiple starters and key players.

So while the Eagles deserve to be favored and should expect to win this game, it's still going to come down to winning a few key matchups. Here are three matchups that will have a significant impact on the outcome of the game.

Evan Neal vs. Eagles Pass-Rushers

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Brandon Graham and Co. can make Evan Neal's day difficult.

Identifying and exploiting the weak link on an offensive line can be huge. That's especially true in a game between division rivals that already know each other well.

The Eagles' pass rush is among the deepest and most effective in the league. Not only do they have a lot of talent, but defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon does a great job switching up their fronts and making them difficult to prepare for.

It isn't hard to figure out where the Giants' week spot is right now. That would be rookie right tackle Evan Neal.

The transition to the league has been hard on the Alabama product. He has a PFF grade of 44.0 on the season and has given up seven sacks.

Those struggles were especially evident in the Week 14 matchup against the Eagles. The Philly front toasted him for seven pressures and a sack, per PFF. He hasn't done much to prove he's any better. Last week, the Vikings were able to beat him on 15.9 percent of his pass-blocking snaps.

If the Eagles are going to prevent a Giants upset they have to be able to get to, and bring down, Daniel Jones. The easiest path to do that is by putting as much on Evan Neal's plate as they can.

Whether it's ensuring they have a fresh pass-rusher on him as much as possible or running stunts that put him in a bind, they need to take full advantage of his inexperience.

Eagles Linebackers vs. Saquon Barkley

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Saquon Barkley was largely a non-factor in the Week 14 game against the Eagles.

It's hard to take anything away from the Week 18 game between these two. The Giants were resting key players; the Eagles had reason not to throw everything into the game when they knew a third matchup could be on the horizon.

So the Week 14 matchup is the best preview of how these two teams match up. The game script in that one didn't tell us much about how the Eagles defense will handle Saquon Barkley.

The Eagles were up 21-0 midway through the second quarter. The Giants were forced into a negative game script early, and Barkley finished the game with just 28 yards on nine carries and two targets in the passing game.

Now, compare that to his stat line against the Vikings in the playoff game in which he only had nine carries but was much more involved in the passing game, with five catches on six targets for 56 yards.

Barkley is the most dangerous weapon the Giants have in their arsenal. The easiest adjustment the Giants can make this time around is to manufacture more touches for their star running back.

It's going to be up to the Eagles' athletic crew of linebackers, including Kyzir White and T.J. Edwards, to keep tabs on Barkley and make sure he's bottled up as a runner and receiver.

Eagles Offensive Line vs. Giants Defensive Line

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Lane Johnson's return could be huge for Philadelphia.

Jalen Hurts is going to be important. The Giants' cornerbacks against the duo of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith will be a key component too. There just isn't a more important matchup than the one up front between the Eagles' offensive line and the Giants.

In the Week 14 matchup, the Eagles were able to put New York behind the eightball by bullying them up front. In all, Philadelphia outrushed the Eagles 253-123. Thanks to 77 yards on seven carries from Hurts and 144 yards on 17 carries from Miles Sanders, the Eagles rushed for 8.2 yards per carry and four touchdowns.

If the offensive line is able to open up those kinds of running lanes, those matchups on the outside in the passing game aren't going to matter. The Eagles will once again easily roll to victory.

Much of that is going to depend on just how healthy the offensive line is. Specifically, the Eagles need Lane Johnson to be back and playing at a high level. The right tackle is among the best in the league when healthy, but he has been out with an abdomen injury.

He reportedly returned to practice this week and will forgo surgery in an attempt to play in the playoffs.

The Giants defensive front held Dalvin Cook to 60 rushing yards on 15 carries, with a longest run of just 11 yards on the day. If they can bottle up Sanders and Hurts in a similar fashion, then this game will be close.

The battle between the Eagles receiver and the Giants secondary could be important, but only the offensive line can determine if this game will be a comfortable victory or if fans will have to sweat it out this weekend.