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Giants vs. Eagles: 10 things to watch for

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**Giants.com's Dan Salomone highlights 10 storylines to follow as the Giants face the Eagles:

**

1. HOW TO CLINCH

The New York Giants (10-4) are one victory away from playing in their first postseason game since Super Bowl XLVI. Their simplest path to clinching a berth is winning at least one of the final two games on the road against Philadelphia and Washington. With the first-place Cowboys (12-2) notching another victory in Week 15, the NFC East champion, which has not been decided yet, is guaranteed the conference's No. 1 seed and homefield advantage.

Big Blue, as it has for much of the season, currently holds the No. 5 seed. The Giants can also get in with a loss or tie from any of the following teams: Detroit (at Dallas), Green Bay (vs. Minnesota), and Tampa Bay (at New Orleans). They can also clinch with an Atlanta loss (at Carolina).

2. GIANTS INJURY REPORT

Out: DE Jason Pierre-Paul (core muscle), S Nat Berhe (concussion) Questionable: LB Jonathan Casillas (knee), CB Janoris Jenkins (back)

3. EAGLES INJURY REPORT

Questionable: G Allen Barbre (hamstring), WR Jordan Matthews (ankle), G Isaac Seumalo (ankle), OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai (knee)

4. FOUR NAMED TO PRO BOWL

Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., cornerback Janoris Jenkins, safety Landon Collins, and special teamer Dwayne Harris were named to the 2017 NFL Pro Bowl this week. While this marks Beckham's third appearance in three seasons, Jenkins, Collins, and Harris have been invited for the first time in their careers. The Giants are sending two defensive backs to the Pro Bowl for the first time since 1963, when Erich Barnes and Dick Lynch were selected. The Pro Bowl will be played on Sunday, Jan. 29, in Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla. The game will return to an AFC vs. NFC format this year after three years of drafting players by team captains.

5. TROUBLE AT THE LINC

The Giants have not won at Lincoln Financial Field since 2013, losing their last two games by a combined score of 54-7. They are 6-8 all-time at the venue, including postseason, and have lost five of their last seven trips. Earlier in the season, the Giants broke a four-game winning streak to the Eagles with a 28-23 victory in Week 9. Now they'll try to snap it on the road.

6. CRUZ'S RETURN

October 12, 2014 was the last time Victor Cruz played in Philadelphia and marked the beginning of a 700-day absence from football. That, of course, was the game he suffered a season-ending knee injury, setting off a string of setbacks that kept him off the field until Sept. 11, 2016. Before the injury, Cruz enjoyed some of his best games at Lincoln Financial Field, where he had 19 receptions for 305 yards and three touchdowns in three previous outings.

7. DOMINANT D

After holding Dallas and Detroit to 13 points over the last two weeks, the Giants moved up to No. 3 in scoring defense (17.9 points per game). Only New England (16.6) and Seattle (16.8) are better in that department. Meanwhile, Big Blue is also No. 1 in red-zone defense (40 percent) and No. 3 on third down (35.5).

8. PERKINS POUNDING AWAY

Rookie running back Paul Perkins averaged 4.2 carries for 15.4 yards in the Giants' first 12 games, but the fifth-round pick out of UCLA has averaged 13 for 50.5 in the last two games. Add in the return of starting left guard Justin Pugh, who missed five weeks because of a knee injury, and the Giants are looking to lean on the run game down the final stretch. They did so against the Cowboys and Lions, rushing the ball more than 30 times in each game. They had done that only once before in Week 2.

9. A SPECIAL TEAM

In the same week Harris was named to his first Pro Bowl as a special teamer, punter Brad Wing became the first Giants player ever to win back-to-back Special Teams Player of the Week awards. The Giants can't have them rest on their laurels as they face the Eagles, who are No. 1 in kickoff return average (28.5) with two touchdowns, and No. 2 on punt returns (12.9) with a long of 66 yards from Darren Sproles in Philadelphia's Week 9 loss to the Big Blue.

10. CLOSING ON THE ROAD

The Giants finished 7-1 at home this season, their best record in the seven-year history of MetLife Stadium (they were 7-1 in Giants Stadium in 2008). And barring an improbable – but not impossible – chain of events, the Giants will have to do it on the road from here on out. After Philadelphia, they finish the season at FedEx Field against the Redskins, who handed the Giants their only home loss in Week 3.

View photos of the all-time history of New York Giants in the Pro Bowl.

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