Now we shall see how different all this really is.
John Harbaugh has already turned the franchise around. Exactly how far around is an ongoing saga and the next stop on the trail is Philadelphia. Where Giants head coaches go and lose.
Tom Coughlin in 2014 and 2015. Ben McAdoo in 2016 and 2017. Pat Shurmur in 2018 and 2019. Joe Judge in 2020 and 2021. Brian Daboll in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Make it 13 consecutive losses for the Giants at Lincoln Financial Field. The last time the Giants won in Philly was Oct. 27, 2013, as Josh Brown’s five field goals accounted for all their points in a 15-7 victory, with the Eagles losing quarterback Michael Vick to a hamstring injury, forcing Matt Barkley onto the field. The Eagles won the NFC East that season. The Giants finished third.
This Sunday, Harbaugh takes his first-place squad into the Linc, heading in at 4-2-1 fresh off the bye week, with a new quarterback (J.J. McCarthy) providing even more fuel to the fire Harbaugh is stoking. What has already transpired shows the value of a proven head coach exerting his influence on and off the field.
Let us count the Sundays when there might as well be neon lights flashing “This Is Not The Same’’ since Harbaugh took over. Beating the Cowboys in Week 1 — the Giants had lost 10 of 11 season openers to Dallas. Winning the first three games of the season at home — they had not accomplished that in 18 years. Winning on the road in Houston as a 10.5-point underdog.
What comes next is not the most severe football challenge but it is an emotional and psychological hurdle, considering what the rival Eagles have inflicted upon the Giants and their fans for more than a decade.
Yes, the Eagles at 2-6 are depleted and a mess. Yes, they lost their quarterback, Jalen Hurts, for the remainder of the season. Yes, long gone is their offensive line dominance. Yes, Saquon Barkley is hurting. Yes, the Birds are on a six-game losing streak, their longest skid since 2012, when they dropped eight straight in Andy Reid’s 14th and final year as the Eagles’ head coach.
Yes, the Giants are actually favored, on the road, by 1.5 points. Given their history in their least-favorite venue, that spread has more to do with the demise of the Eagles than any perceived ascension by the Giants.
“Philly is a very raucous atmosphere to play in, the fans are super similar to our fans up here,’’ guard Jon Runyan Jr. told The Post on Monday after practice. “The only difference is they’ve had something to cheer about the last couple of years recently. I’m hoping the tables turn a little bit. I feel like they have. It’s up to us to go down there and take care of business. I think we have what we need. We split with them last year so I think we’re building in the right direction.’’
The baker’s dozen worth of consecutive losses at the Linc came in all shapes and sizes. There was an assortment of blowouts — 27-0 in 2014, 34-10 in 2021, 38-20 in 2025. There was one playoff matchup, coming after the 2022 season when the Giants were on the way up in Daboll’s first year. That was a 38-7 Eagles smackdown. There was a 23-17 overtime loss in 2019 — Carson Wentz to Zach Ertz for the deciding points. There were several down-to-the-wire setbacks — 27-24 in 2017 (thanks to a 61-yard field goal by Jake Elliott) and 25-22 in 2018 — an Elliott field goal with 22 seconds left. There was a 22-21 loss in 2020 when the Giants blew a 21-10 lead in the final 4:38, which included a terrible dropped pass by tight end Evan Engram.
Most recently, there was Eagles 38, Giants 20 in 2025, as Barkley took it 65 yards on his first touch and Jaxson Dart was introduced to a Giants life in Philly.
Harbaugh said he did not know about the long Giants losing streak in Philly and added, “and I probably didn’t need to know that,’’ before breaking out laughing.
“Yeah,’’ he said, “we don’t care, we don’t care about that.’’
None of this, of course, is on Harbaugh, new on the scene. Still, the dreary Giants history at the Linc is a reality he sort of inherits.
“I’m trying to think of the analogy because inherit is an interesting word,’’ Harbaugh said playfully. “You’re sitting there, you’re sitting at one of those, I’ve only seen them in movies where they all go into the lawyer’s office and they read the will, right? What would that be akin to a 13-game losing streak that you inherit?’’
How about achieving a one-game winning streak in Philly?
Harbaugh was 15-3 coming out of the bye week in his 18 years with the Ravens, and the Eagles are sagging but there are no sure things. Not anywhere. Especially not in Philadelphia. Especially when it comes to the Giants.
