Eagles grades: The D-line joined Saquon Barkley in destroying the Giants

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in a 28-3 win over the New York Giants:

Jalen Hurts had issues seeing the field early on as the Eagles went another first quarter without scoring a point. But he went his second straight game without a turnover and was efficient as a passer and runner. Hurts completed 71% of his passes, tossed one touchdown, and scored two on Tush Push sneaks.

He showed his deft touch on the fourth-down throw to A.J. Brown for a 41-yard touchdown before the half. Hurts got the ball out just before getting hit. He was sacked four times — three times in the first frame — but settled down as the Eagles pounded the ball on the ground. Hurts didn’t run much early, but he converted a big fourth-and-2 with a scramble in the third quarter.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Giants analysis: Saquon Barkley and the defense dominate his old team in a 28-3 revenge game win

Saquon Barkley exacted revenge on his former team with a stellar effort on the ground. He went over the century mark for the third time this season and finished with 176 yards on 17 carries. He also caught two passes for 11 yards. Barkley immediately made his presence felt by steamrolling Giants safety Dane Belton on a short pass even though he was stopped short of converting a third down.

His 55-yard run in the second quarter opened the offensive floodgates for the Eagles. A few plays later, he muscled his way into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown. Barkley reached a top speed of 21.93 mph on the long run — the second-fastest for a ballcarrier this season.

Kenneth Gainwell was a solid complement to Barkley. He rushed 13 times for 56 yards. As a receiver, he had a nice spin move in the open field for a first-down catch in the second. Will Shipley got some late handoffs.

Brown was again Hurts’ favorite receiver, and justifiably so. He caught several passes on slants and in-breaking routes, but his 41-yard touchdown on fourth down put the Eagles up by two scores. Brown beat cornerback Nick McCloud on a double move and Hurts hit him in stride.

With Dallas Goedert sidelined with a hamstring injury, Grant Calcaterra was the primary tight end. He had his struggles as a run blocker but caught one pass for 5 yards. Second tight end Jack Stoll seemed to have more success as a blocker.

Receiver DeVonta Smith had a quiet day with the Eagles favoring their ground attack. He had just one catch for minus-2 yards. Jahan Dotson played a lot as the third receiver, but saw just one target — a back-shoulder throw when he wasn’t on the same page with Hurts.

The Giants’ pass rush put the Eagles’ O-line under duress early on as Hurts was sacked three times in the first quarter. The quarterback seemed to hold the ball too long on a couple of those sacks. But Fred Johnson, who was filling in for the injured Jordan Mailata, gave up an early sack to Brian Burns when he beat the tackle with an outside speed rush, and Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence put a couple of interior linemen on skates on his way to two sacks.

But the unit settled down, especially once the Eagles favored the run, and Johnson & Co. opened some huge holes for Barkley and Gainwell to run through. Even right guard Mekhi Becton’s concussion forcing Tyler Steen into the game didn’t deter the group.

Johnson did well to seal the edge on Barkley’s 55-yard bolt and center Cam Jurgens pulled and paved an outside lane with a block on corner Deonte Banks. There was an assortment of blocking schemes that helped the running backs get into the second level and beyond.

The Eagles’ pass rush was ferocious and the D-line gets a lot of credit for pressuring quarterback Daniel Jones. The Giants were without left tackle Andrew Thomas, their best O-lineman, and Jones looked skittish, but the front had a dominant performance.

Jalen Carter led the way with two sacks. Even his third-down offside penalty that negated a tipped interception in the second quarter couldn’t offset all the good he did inside. Defensive end Bryce Huff recorded his first solo sack of the season. He has looked more comfortable rushing from a four-point stance on obvious passing downs. He even flashed in the run game and set the edge on an eventual tackle for loss.

Defensive end Josh Sweat had an early sack despite getting chipped. That’s three straight games in which he has gotten to the quarterback. Outside linebacker Nolan Smith had several impressive rushes and notched his second sack in as many weeks. He got the start in a five-man front ahead of Huff. Rookie defensive end Jalyx Hunt even got the first sack of his career in mop-up duty.

Jordan Davis, Milton Williams, and Thomas Booker did a lot of the dirty interior work against the run as Giants running backs failed to get much going on the ground. Defensive tackle Moro Ojomo took an encroachment penalty just before the half.

Nakobe Dean missed an open-field tackle on the Giants’ opening drive — not a surprise considering his recent tackling — but he rebounded and had a strong overall game. Dean was especially impressive as a blitzer. He forced an early third-down incomplete pass with an unblocked rush, but was more impactful beating blitz pickups on the way to a career-high two sacks. He led the team with 11 tackles.

Zack Baun was steady Eddie throughout the day. He chipped in with six tackles but left late in the game with a shoulder injury.

Jones was mostly inept, but credit has to be given to the Eagles’ secondary. Darius Slay had an early pass breakup despite being listed as questionable entering the game with a knee injury. He limped off the field just before the half, but returned after the break and had another pass breakup when Jones went at him the next time. Slay’s outside counterpart, Quinyon Mitchell, wasn’t challenged much — mostly because he locked down Giants receivers Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton.

Cooper DeJean started in the slot for a second straight week. He did well to stay home and force Jones to run and to get him out of bounds before the first-down marker.

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio seemed to play a lot of split safety shells, mostly in Cover 4, which meant that C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Reed Blankenship spent a lot of time in the deep post. That meant the safeties didn’t get much action, but they kept Jones from deep attempts and they never let the Giants get behind them for a completion.

Blankenship did offer support in the run game with several assisted stops.

Michael Clay’s units ended a run of games in which they allowed “catastrophic” plays — the coordinator’s word — but they also committed several penalties. Oren Burks had an offside penalty on the opening kickoff, Hunt had an illegal block in the back on a DeJean punt return, and Sydney Brown, upon his return from a torn ACL, ran out of bounds on punt coverage.

But there were some good moments, as well, most of them from DeJean. He had a couple of impressive punt returns in the first half in which he broke tackles, the second of which he took back 28 yards. The Giants then made sure to kick high punts to keep him from returning.

Braden Mann averaged 51.6 yards on seven punts.

Nick Sirianni bounced back from one of his toughest weeks as a coach and guided the Eagles to their best overall victory of the season as they moved to 4-2. The coach has received a lot of criticism for his fourth-down decision-making this season. But his two fourth-down rolls of the dice that resulted in touchdowns were instrumental in the victory.

It took a little too long, but once offensive coordinator Kellen Moore figured it out, his switch to run-heavy play calling paid off in dividends. He also sprinkled in more under-center snaps and pistol-formation snaps for Hurts, and used tempo to keep Lawrence off the field in key spots.

Fangio seems to be getting in a groove with his unit. The Eagles defense hasn’t allowed a touchdown in the last two games.