Giants rise and Eagles fall in wild afternoon for NFC East

To tighten their grip on the NFC East lead, the New York Giants on Sunday relied on relics of the past.

Losing ground in the same division, the Philadelphia Eagles turned to their potential future.

The NFC East may be full of mediocre records, but the division sure doesn’t lack drama. In a wild afternoon, the Giants upset the Seattle Seahawks in a 17-12 win in part thanks to former Washington veterans Colt McCoy and Alfred Morris. As that unfolded, the Eagles benched quarterback Carson Wentz in favor of second-round rookie Jalen Hurts in their 30-16 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

New York’s win improved the Giants to 5-7 this season, remaining in first place no matter what happens in Monday’s game between Washington and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Giants entered Sunday  in first place, but were heavy underdogs to stay that way. Not only did they have to face Seattle — with MVP candidate Russell Wilson — on the road, but the Giants were without quarterback Daniel Jones (hamstring). As uneven as Jones has been this season, McCoy hadn’t led a team to a win since 2014.

But under coach Joe Judge, New York has surprised teams by playing sound and disciplined football. With that formula, the Giants were able to shock the Seahawks. They rushed for 190 yards and McCoy hit Morris for a 6-yard touchdown in the third quarter. McCoy threw for 108 yards, while Morris rushed for 38.

While the Giants thrilled, the same can’t be said for the Eagles — who have been spiraling out of control for weeks.

Philadelphia (3-8-1) benched Wentz in the third quarter. Hurts (109 yards) flashed in his limited playing time — throwing a touchdown on 4th-and-18 in the fourth.

Wentz’s benching is the latest setback in what has been a massively disappointing year. Wentz was once an MVP candidate in 2017, but the former first-rounder hasn’t resembled anything close to that this season.

This year, Wentz has been one of the league’s worst quarterbacks — holding NFL’s third-lowest passer rating. He was especially bad  Sunday, throwing for just 79 yards on 6 of 15 passing with four sacks.

After Philadelphia’s fourth straight loss, coach Doug Pederson will only face additional questions about his job. Though the Eagles won the Super Bowl just three seasons ago, Pederson is reportedly on the hot seat — with the NFL Network reporting Sunday that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie is unhappy and those within the organization “fear” he’s considering a change.