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Thursday Night Observations

And Merry Christmas to you too, Eli.

Actually, Manning's 5.7-YPA, three-pick monstrosity only minimally impacted the Giants playoff hopes, but his continued poor play bodes badly for their chances to advance. Incidentally, I streamed the condensed version of the game this morning from the guesthouse of a small ~350-year-old cottage in Wales where we're spending Christmas with friends.

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(The main house where our friends live. Above, the attached guest house where we're staying.)

• As a Giants fan, my bias often causes me to get their games wrong, but not this time. I had the final score 23-17 and predicted Manning would blow it. (Granted, predicting a poor game from Manning these days does not require an astrological chart.)

• Manning had 356 yards, but it took him 63 attempts to get there. Many of his throws were either off line or behind his receivers, and he rarely does them any favors with respect to yards after the catch.

• Odell Beckham finally got the volume he deserves (20 targets), but many were uncatchable, and he also dropped a couple. Still, he was electrifying with the ball in his hands and went 11-for-150.

• Given Manning's massive volume even Victor Cruz had a big role, going 8-for-84, and Sterling Shepard went  7-for-61 and his eighth TD in 15 games. Shepard made a nice move on the TD, but it's unclear whether he's a dangerous enough playmaker to force defenses away from blanketing Beckham.

• Paul Perkins finally saw the bulk of the work and delivered 68 tough yards on 15 carries, while breaking tackles, moving the pile and showing good quickness, speed and burst. Rashad Jennings was actually more efficient (9-for-44), but Perkins looks like a potential star.

• The Giants defense was solid once again, holding the Eagles to 17 offensive points, despite Manning's turnovers and a 3rd-and-13 roughing-the-passer call that gifted the Eagles a first down deep in their territory. They did this without Jason Pierre-Paul and Janoris Jenkins, arguably their two most valuable defensive players.

• Carson Wentz barely moved the ball through the air with only 152 passing yards on 6.3 YPA. He did hurt the Giants with some deft scrambling, however.

• It's amazing Darren Sproles is 33. He's still one of the most dangerous backs in the league when he touches the ball.

• So much for Zach Ertz's history of Week 16 dominance. He saw only two targets all game. But none of the Eagles receivers except Nelson Agholor, who caught a 40-yard TD, did anything.