The New York Giants (2-5) travel down to Lincoln Financial Field to face the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles (5-2) this Sunday afternoon.

Here are five storylines we’re following leading up to this Week 8 game.

How will Giants respond after historic collapse in Denver?

The Giants melted down in the fourth quarter of last Sunday’s game against the Broncos in Denver, blowing a significant lead with less than six minutes remaining in regulation. To add insult to injury, they regained the lead with 37 seconds left only to get beaten by a last-second field goal, 33-32.

Players were visibly upset with themselves and the coaches after the game as tensions ran high. As the emotions subside, there are questions surrounding the mental state of the team as they head into another road game in which they are huge underdogs.

“It’s kind of just how it is in sports and really anything. So for us, obviously, it stings for a little bit, but we’ve got to move on,” quarterback Jaxson Dart said this week. “We can’t let it affect the next game and next moment, so we’ve got to be present, we’ve got to learn from our mistakes, acknowledge some of the good things that we did, and just try to perfect our craft in any way that we can.”

Eagles are seeking a bit of revenge

The Eagles have beaten the Giants 15 times over the last 19 meetings. Philadelphia is 7-3 against New York since Nick Sirianni took over as head coach in 2021. But in Week 6 of this season, they lost a one-sided game against the Giants at MetLife Stadium on Thursday Night Football.

They will be attempting to get back on the winning track against the Giants this week. After all, they can’t lose twice to the trainwreck Giants in three weeks, can they?

Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jalen Carter missed the first meeting, but he’ll be there this week. The Giants will have a hard time dominating in the trenches this time around.

“He’s a problem to block. He wasn’t there the first game,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll said.

The Giants are dealing with a ton of issues, and now they’ll have to try and beat the Eagles on the road.

“I mean, especially this quick of a turnaround, I don’t think I’ve ever done that before,” Dart said when asked about playing a team for a second time. “Each team is going make a lot of adjustments on what we saw two weeks ago, and it’s just going to be a game of chess, and we’re going to have to figure out what they’re doing early, they’re going to have to figure out what we’re doing early. It’s just going to be a game of constant adjustments.”

Giants are still uncertain at kicker

The Giants cut kicker Jude McAtamney this week after he missed two PATs in the loss to Denver. Veteran Graham Gano was designated for return from injured reserve (IR) on Wednesday and practiced in full. He has missed the past four games with a groin injury, and the hope is that he can return to action this week against the Eagles.

“If he’s ready to play and he goes through practice and he feels good, then he’ll be the kicker,” Daboll said of Gano on Wednesday. “Let’s see how it looks on Friday after practice.”

If Gano can’t go, the Giants will turn to another veteran kicker, Younghoe Koo, whom they signed to their practice squad a few weeks ago. Daboll isn’t quite ready to turn to Koo.

“Let’s see how he (Gano) does these next couple of days here. But he’s a kicker, he’s been working, we’re bringing him up for a reason,” Daboll said. “Hopefully, he’s progressing in the right direction. He is progressing in the right direction. So we’ll see in a couple days here how it goes, and then make a decision, what we need to do.”

Philly will be ready for Dart this time around

Dart took the Eagles by surprise in the first meeting. He had two touchdowns (one passing, one rushing) with no interceptions for a 104.6 rating in the Giants’ 34-17 win. The Eagles clearly weren’t prepared for the rookie, who was selected 25th overall in this year’s NFL draft.

“One lesson learned is the teams that needed quarterbacks that bypassed him — they’re going to regret that,” Eagles DC Vic Fangio said this week. “Obviously very athletic, an elite scrambler, I think their coaches have done a great job with him. They’ve developed the offense around him… He’s a good player.”Don’t expect the Eagles to get blindsided again, especially in front of their home crowd, which is one of the NFL’s toughest for opponents to play in front of.

“It’s going to be intense for sure,” said Dart. “I can’t wait to go out there and compete and kind of just feel the hostility in the air. The rivalry between the two organizations — it’s going to be really cool. I kind of compare it to an SEC rivalry, so I’m really excited for the atmosphere. I know it’s going to be intense, but just excited for it.”

Will Brandon Graham play?

37-year-old defensive end Brandon Graham announced he was ending his short-lived retirement this week and returned to the Eagles. Graham played 15 seasons for the Eagles from 2010 to 2024, a total of 206 games (218 including playoffs), the most of any player in franchise history. He is one of four players who were on the Eagles’ roster for both Super Bowl wins (Lane Johnson, Jake Elliott, and Rick Lovato are the others).

Graham played 24 games in his career against the Giants, racking up 54 combined tackles (17 for a loss) with 8.0 sacks, 16 QB hits, and four forced fumbles.

The Eagles have a two-week roster exemption for Graham, but he could see action as early as this week. He could dress as he had been a good-luck charm against the Giants. The Eagles are 19-5 against New York in games Graham has appeared in.

“We’ll see. You see what kind of shape he’s in, what kind of retention he has from last year,” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said this week. “Shape comes in two forms. One, just your conditioning, but in football shape to contact shape. So hopefully, the sooner the better.”