The Giants are so bad, I'm not sure if we'll look back at this game as a blip or the start of a turnaround, but as rough as things have been so far this year, I think we'll take it. Today marked the end of the meaningless but oft-publicized streak of Eagle games without a 15+ point victory. Similar to a few other Giants games we've seen over the last couple seasons, the starters from both teams began to sit down in the fourth quarter. By that point the Eagles had racked up mind-boggling box score edges in yards (330-104) and first downs (19-9). Statistically, this is easily the Eagles' best defensive effort of the year but as alluded to above, it's hard to tell how excited to be about that; the Giants are bad on offense on a good day and were missing their starting RB and best offensive player (LT Thomas) today. Offensively, Philly was missing both Goedert and two OL starters (for most of the game) and still made more than enough plays.
Jalen had another solid if unspectacular effort. His efficiency numbers were certainly helped by the scoring bomb to Brown, but that was a really good throw under pressure by Hurts. The Giants' pressure bothered him early but as the game went on he seemed to see the field better; his fourth down scramble for a conversion under pressure late in the third quarter evidenced that.
It was good to see Saquan Barkley quiet the moronic Giants crowd who booed him with every touch. Is it Saquan's fault that New York was outbid by Philly, or that Philly is a far more tempting option for a player who wants to win now? Regardless, Barkley's absurd 176 yards on just 17 carries showed the Giants up pretty well.
I'm pleased to see the Eagles' pass rush be productive, especially our long lost prospects Nolan Smith and Bryce Huff; however, as said before but worth repeating, the Giants are terrible on offense, especially on their OL, and without Andrew Thomas they had no chance. Remember that if you're tempted to get too excited over the Eagles' eight sacks. Still, allowing 363 total yards and no touchdowns over two weeks is encouraging no matter who the opponents are.
Big picture now: Philly's 4-2 record is roughly where most observers thought this team would be at this point. Most would grant that the team has not been as impressive as we'd hoped, but it's equally fair to say that the schedule has been a bit tougher than we would have thought so far. It should also be noted that this team has been far from fully healthy so far; key players like Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, Dallas Goedert, AJ Brown, Devonta Smith and Mekhi Becton have combined to miss most or all of TEN games so far. In some ways I think the Commanders' unexpected fast start helps Philly out; the Eagles will be able to fly under the national radar for a little while yet while they fix some of their issues and get healthy. I still like Philly to get to 6-2 by the time they visit Dallas in mid-November.
FLY EAGLES FLY!
PS: the Eagles have beaten the Giants 23 of the last 30 meetings.
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