The Birds dominated all phases of the game Sunday to move to 4-2 on the year.
The Philadelphia Eagles seemed allergic to blowout wins, having yet to record a victory by more than one possession going back to their win over the Dolphins in week 7 of 2023. That all changed on Sunday when the Eagles stormed into the Meadowlands and throttled the Giants with a 28-3 win.
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley was the star of the show on Sunday, running for 176 yards and a touchdown on the ground and adding 11 more yards and two receptions via the air. Barkley was a threat to take it to the house every time he touched the ball and looked like the best player on the field.
Saquon was a key signing by the Eagles front office this summer, signing him away from the Giants who drafted him and where he spent the first half-decade of his career. In interviews leading up to the game, he claimed there were no hard feelings and that he had nothing to prove in this game. His hard-charging running on Sunday and his willingness to lower the shoulder for hits on Giants defenders seemed to say something different.
He also shared a cool moment with head coach Nick Sirianni towards the end of the game. In the 4th quarter, with the game all but over, Sirianni approached Saquon to let him know he was removing the starters but would leave him in the game if he wanted as he was just 13 yards shy of his career high.
“It’s all good, I’d rather see the young guys eat,” said Barkely in response to his head coach.
The rest of the Eagles offense looked great on Sunday, too. Quarterback Jalen Hurts finished the game with an efficient 10/14 for 114 yards and a touchdown while adding another 22 yards on the ground, and most importantly 0 turnovers and 0 turnover-worthy plays for the second straight week. He also threw an absolute dime to AJ Brown on 4th and 3 in the second quarter for the second touchdown of the game.
One thing of note for the Eagles’ offense is their poor showing on third down on Sunday. The Giants held the Eagles to 1 of 13 on third downs in this game. The Eagles did convert multiple times on 4th down in the game, but 7.7% on third down will not cut it against upper-echelon NFL teams.
The Eagles defense was dominant on Sunday, holding the Giants to just 3 points in their home stadium and keeping quarterback Daniel Jones under constant pressure. The defense was constantly in the backfield recording a season-high eight sacks as a unit and holding the Giants to just 119 yards of total offense and an atrocious 2.2 yards per play.
Linebacker Nakobe Dean was the standout on the defensive side of the ball, contributing his best game of the season. Dean logged a team-high 11 tackles to go with two sacks, two tackles for loss, and four quarterback hits.
The Eagles will look to keep the momentum rolling as they face the Cincinnati Bengals on the road in Paul Brown Stadium this Sunday at 1 PM.