On October 15, 1933, the Philadelphia Eagles, a team in its first year of existence, went to the Polo Grounds to take on the New York Giants. It did not go well: The Giants destroyed the Eagles 56-0, winning the first game between the two teams and starting what would be a longstanding trend of the Giants getting the better of their rivals.
But this season the Eagles have a chance to even the rivalry for the first time ever: After the Eagles beat the Giants on Thursday nights, the rivalry’s all-time record is 86 wins for the Giants, 85 wins for the Eagles, and two ties. That means if the Eagles win on November 25, the rivalry will be tied for the first time since it started in 1933.
The Giants dominated the rivalry in the early years, and by 1970 they were 20 games over .500 against the Eagles, 46-26-1. More recently the rivalry has been more competitive, but it only started to turn decisively in the Eagles’ favor in the last decade, with Philadelphia winning 17 of the last 21 games between the two teams.
Given the current state of the two teams, with the Eagles building a Super Bowl winner around a talented young quarterback and the Giants struggling to move on from an aging quarterback, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if the Eagles even the series in November and then move ahead in 2019. For the first time ever, the Eagles may soon be able to say they’ve had the better end of their rivalry with the Giants.
