Oct 20, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) carries the ball against the New York Giants during the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
The New York Giants are a bad team, and the Eagles played down to them offensively in the first half. However, while some troubling trends continued, the Eagles ultimately pulled away from their division rivals Sunday, defeating the Giants 28-3 to move to 4-2 on the season.
Here are four takeaways from Sunday's victory over the Giants.
Barkley — much to the chagrin of Jason Kelce – heard boos every time he touched the ball early on in his return to MetLife Stadium as a visitor. As the game went on, though, Barkley silenced bitter Giants fans by putting together another tremendous performance in what's turning into a special season.
Barkley had a 55-yard rush in a second-quarter drive that he later capped off with a touchdown:
SAQUON. 55-YARD RUN.
📺: #PHIvsNYG on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/x02woOkZaj
The Eagles increased their lead to 21-3 early in the third quarter on a Jalen Hurts tush push touchdown, but the big play on the drive was a 38-yard carry by Barkley:
Saquon having himself a DAY.
Over 125 yards rushing against the Giants.
📺: #PHIvsNYG on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/USP8wd6AeV
For good measure, Barkley led off what turned out to be a 10-play, 92-yard touchdown drive that began late in the third quarter with a 41-yard burst:
Saquon Barkley is at it again.
📺: #PHIvsNYG on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/iGCd9x3WWo
Despite a slow start, Barkley more than got going Sunday, finishing the afternoon with 17 carries for 176 yards, by far his top performance so far as an Eagle. It also marked one of the best performances a running back has ever had against a former team:
Oh my, Saquon smiling (and the stats)🥹 pic.twitter.com/MgSnNUe8Ey
Is the Eagles' passing game too reliant on explosive plays from Brown helping them to overcome an inability to consistently complete short or intermediate passes to move the chains? Probably.
But man, Brown is special. The latest evidence? On fourth-and-three at the New York 41-yard line, Hurts looked deep to Brown, and hit his star receiver for a touchdown that the Pro Bowl wideout made look a little too easy:
JALEN HURTS TO AJ BROWN ON 4TH DOWN. 41-YARD TD.
📺: #PHIvsNYG on FOX
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Brown didn't have a monster output Sunday on paper, though in the context of the game it was another major performance. Hurts was only asked to throw 14 times, and he completed 10 of those pass attempts for 114 yards. Brown had five catches for 89 yards from Hurts, meaning he almost exclusively carried the downfield passing game.
For the second week in a row, the Eagles ended the first quarter in a 0-0 tie. It marked the sixth time in six games that the Eagles have failed to score in the first quarter this season.
Hurts was sacked three times. Barkley ran for just 17 yards on six carries. In total, the Eagles had 63 yards.
The #Giants come up with another THIRD down sack against the #Eagles.
New York has sacked Jalen Hurts three times in the first quarter. pic.twitter.com/aU33FbpcpI
What's there left to say at this point? The Eagles' offensive line struggled in the opening quarter Sunday against a stout defensive line for the Giants, but this isn't a one-week trend. Not being able to score in the first quarter six games in a row reflects poorly on everyone, most notably Hurts and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
And the Eagles aren't going to keep getting as lucky as they have the past two weeks against bad offenses. If you don't score in the first, most weeks you're going to be digging yourself out of a hole.
The Giants are not exactly the 2007 New England Patriots offense, but you only play who's in front of you, and Vic Fangio's defense looked stout Sunday.
Entering the day, the Eagles had 11 sacks through their first five games. But the Eagles racked up seven sacks of Daniel Jones Sunday, with each of Jalen Carter and Nakobe Dean recording multiple. Bryce Huff, Nolan Smith Jr., Josh Sweat and Jaylx Hunt also took Jones down.
Jalen Carter gets the sack, but he doesn’t do it without Nolan Smith forcing Jones up into the pocket pic.twitter.com/R1PaGqYJtE
Again, the Giants are a bad team. But star rookie Malik Nabers was held to four catches for 41 yards. Tyrone Tracy Jr. — who had looked like an emerging star in recent weeks — had just 32 all-purpose yards. And the Giants finished the day with only three points.
Since the bye, Fangio's defense has down what they are supposed to do against inferior opponents, holding the Cleveland Browns and Giants to 19 combined points.
