Getty Daniel Jones (left) and Eli Manning of the New York Giants in 2019.
Two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning will be in attendance at Saturday night’s Eagles-Giants divisional round playoff game. The younger Manning brother will be breaking a promise he made to never step foot inside Lincoln Financial Field again, but he’s doing it to hopefully set a dubious record.
Manning went 10-21 against Philadelphia in his fringe Hall-of-Fame career. He never beat the Eagles in the postseason either. Now he’s going back to the scene of the crime in an apparent attempt to see how many middle fingers the Philly faithful will be sticking in his face.
“I said when I retired that I would never go back to a football game at Philly, but I think I have to break my promise,” Manning said, via Awful Announcing. “I think I have to go there. I can’t wait to see the amount of double birds I get. Could break a record.”
Ex-Eagles great Chris Long joins Peyton & Eli and defends Philly fans as Eli whines about getting the “double bird” from a 9-year-old. 😂 #Eagles #FlyEaglesFly
Manning’s “double birds” refers to a hilarious story he told to former Eagles pass rusher Chris Long on Season 1 of Manningcast about getting booed by a 9-year-old kid in Philly. He threw up both his middle fingers on ESPN to illustrate the story as older brother Peyton laughed out loud.
“I felt like I got treated worse than Santa Claus whenever I went there,” Eli said. “You know, you play in a lot of stadiums, you go in — I’d go into Dallas, you see some people there, they might give you a high five or a ‘good to see you.’ You go to Philly, you’re getting the ‘double bird’ right from a 9-year-old kid.”
Brian Daboll Expects ‘Hostile’ Environment in Philly
Brian Daboll is looking for his first win against the Eagles on Saturday as leader of the New York Giants. He said his team’s previous two losses versus Philly won’t matter in the third matchup. Every game’s a new game, according to Daboll, and they’ll learn from the mistakes of the past. However, the first-year head coach does expect a “hostile” environment at the Linc.
How does Brian Daboll expect the environment to be in Philadelphia on Saturday night?
“Hostile”
Giants defensive end Dexter Lawrence has taken extra precautions to guard against that hostile environment. The North Carolina native told his mother to stay home.
“I told my mom she can’t come to the game because she’ll go back at them,” Thomas said, via Giants Videos. “It should be fun and I’m excited.”
Dexter Lawrence told his mom that she can’t attend the game in Philadelphia because she’d “go back at [Eagles fans]” 😂
Nick Sirianni Calls Familiarity ‘Good and Bad’
Nick Sirianni enters the divisional playoff matchup holding a 3-1 record versus New York since taking the reins as head coach in 2021. Saturday’s game will mark the third meeting between the Eagles and Giants in five weeks. While Sirianni kept his gameplan vanilla during a 22-16 win on January 8, there is no denying the familiarity factor. That could be good and bad.
“I guess you would say that they know us well, and we know them well. You know the personnel really well. You know the schemes really well,” Sirianni told reporters. “So, there are advantages and disadvantages to both ends of that. Again, you go through your process. You have a process for everything.”
Fun Fact: Nick Sirianni & Brian Daboll were on the same coaching staff in 2012.
Sirianni was the WR coach while Daboll was the OC for the 2-14 Chiefs.
Some familiarity between the two.
Sirianni continued: “But it’s familiarity, and that can be both good and bad because it’s not like we’re just familiar with them; they’re familiar with us, as well.”
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Eli Manning Ready to ‘Break Record’ at Giants-Eagles Playoff Game