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

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — For the first time since last November, the Eagles are on a winning streak.

Sparked by a series of big plays from their offensive stars, a dominant showing from Saquon Barkley, and a swarming pass rush, the Eagles left MetLife Stadium with a lopsided 28-3 win over the New York Giants on Sunday to improve to 4-2. It’s the team’s first double-digit win since Week 7 of last year and the second straight game in which Jalen Hurts has avoided committing a turnover.

Here’s our instant analysis:

Barkley’s much-anticipated return to MetLife Stadium featured a symphony of boos, some extra trash-talking, and the unsettling visual of smoke wafting from the parking lot outside the stadium as Giants fans burned his old jersey.

“That was crazy,” Barkley said. “I’ve seen my jersey get burnt before on social media, but the timing of it, I’m locked in, I’m listening to my music, and all I see is fans just pointing. I’m like, ‘What are they pointing at?’ And there’s smoke and my jersey getting burnt. That was definitely different, I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced anything like that in my life. Hopefully I don’t experience that again.”

After the early jeers, Barkley eventually did levy his response. The running back set the tone early by trucking New York defensive back Dane Belton on a third-down completion and rattled off a 55-yard run to spark the Eagles’ dormant offense midway through the second quarter.

From there, the 27-year-old spent the remainder of the afternoon making the types of improbable rushes on the MetLife turf that he had developed a reputation for throughout his career.

Barkley finished with 176 rushing yards on 17 carries, including one touchdown. He came up just 14 yards shy of breaking his career high, set in 2019 against the Washington Commanders. While he insisted he didn’t have anything to prove to the Giants going into the game, the game served as a fitting illustration of the value he has brought to the Eagles so far this season.

After the game, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said he gave Barkley the choice to try for his career high, but Barkley turned him down.

“It gives me chills to think about,” Sirianni said. “He looked at me and said, ‘Let the other guys eat.’ And I was like, ‘You’re special, dude.’”

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

Barkley’s 55-yarder, opened up by an effective set of blocks from Fred Johnson, Landon Dickerson, and Cam Jurgens pulling out into space to lead the way, ended with him sprinting down the sideline and into scoring range. He capped the drive three plays later with a 3-yard touchdown run.

The sequence, which featured Barkley hitting the second-fastest speed by a ballcarrier this season, 21.93 mph according to Next Gen Stats, foreshadowed what was to come.

At the start of the second half, Barkley broke off another explosive run, bursting through space created by Lane Johnson and Tyler Steen on the right side of the Eagles’ offensive line. Even with Steen filling in at right guard after Mekhi Becton left with a concussion and Fred Johnson in place of a sidelined Jordan Mailata, the Eagles discovered a rhythm leaning on Barkley, as they have for most of this season. The team’s scoreless first-quarter streak persisted for an eighth straight game dating back to last season, but Barkley consistently ignited the offense for the final three quarters.

By the time he took the field early in the fourth quarter with the Eagles offense 4 yards out from the end zone, the boos had been replaced by Eagles fans eager to see him score again. Point made, whether he meant to or not.

After getting off the schneid against the Cleveland Browns a week ago, the Eagles pass rush made the trip up I-95 for a dominant showing.

The group sacked Giants quarterback Daniel Jones and backup Drew Lock eight times, leading the way for a statement performance from the defense as a whole and topping even the five sacks it managed last week against an undermanned Browns offensive line.

Jalen Carter and Nakobe Dean each notched two sacks, with Dean serving as an effective blitzing option on several occasions both against the pass and in the run game. Eagles edge rushers Bryce Huff, Nolan Smith, and Josh Sweat got a handful of key pressures and finished with a sack apiece as well, working against Giants backup left tackle Joshua Ezeudu making his first start in place for an injured Andrew Thomas. Sweat’s sack gave him three straight games with one, something that hasn’t happened since the 2022 season.

Rookie edge rusher Jalyx Hunt also got the first sack of his career in the fourth quarter as the Eagles rested most of their starters.

After logging just six sacks in the first four games of the season, the Eagles have turned in back-to-back impact performances. It may not have come against an elite offensive line this week, but the uptick in production is an important development for a defense that might be finding its stride midway through the year.

“It felt like we captured some mojo in that pass rush,” Sirianni said. “There was a game in ‘22 that I remember that kind of went like this, and it was a second game in a row where we’ve really gotten after the passer. And it’s just a credit to the team defense, because that wasn’t just the D-line, there was good coverage in the secondary going on. And that’s a really talented group.”

Speaking of weekly themes, the Eagles once again turned to A.J. Brown on a go route in a pivotal moment with major results.

Facing fourth-and-3 from the Giants’ 41-yard line midway through the second quarter, Hurts took a shot deep to Brown despite Giants cornerback Nick McCloud trailing the star wideout in tight coverage at the time he threw it. Brown eventually gained a step on McCloud and caught the well-placed pass in stride for a touchdown, giving the Eagles a 14-0 lead. Against a Giants team that looked listless on offense for most of the day, the lead felt even greater than the margin would typically suggest.

With the Eagles spending most of the second half feeding Barkley and salting away the clock with the backups in for the fourth quarter, Brown finished with five catches for 89 yards and the score. Still, he made his impact for one of the most pivotal moments of the game.

Through their first three series, the Eagles had just 35 total yards and four first downs.

Their early struggles were largely due to an inability to contain the Giants pass-rushing duo of Brian Burns and Dexter Lawrence. Lawrence, the best nose tackle in the NFL, even gave the Eagles fits in the run game early on, blowing up a few of Barkley’s carries in the first quarter and wagging his finger at his former teammate after stuffing a particular rush on the Eagles’ third series.

Lawrence made his presence felt as a pass rusher as well, leading the Giants defense with two sacks. He put Eagles center Cam Jurgens on skates on several occasions and was there to clean up a coverage sack as Hurts improvised in the backfield late in the first quarter. The interior of the line eventually stabilized to open space for Barkley’s explosive runs, even when Steen came in for Becton early in the second quarter.

“Dexter is a great player,” Eagles left guard Landon Dickerson said. “I know he’s had good games to start the season. We went in with a good game plan around a really good defensive front and I think we executed that well.”

Working primarily against backup left tackle Fred Johnson, Burns got quick pressure on Hurts a handful of times on the first three series and registered a sack of his own. Azeez Ojulari also got the better of Johnson for a sack on a second down in the first quarter. The upcoming stretch won’t get any easier for Johnson, who is set to face Bengals Pro Bowl edge rusher Trey Hendrickson next week and Cowboys All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons a couple of weeks after that.

Although the Giants finished with five sacks, the Eagles were still able to make pivotal plays when needed offensively after overcoming the slow start. Hurts finished 10-for-14 for 114 yards and a touchdown to go along with seven rushing attempts for 22 yards and a pivotal fourth-down conversion midway through the third quarter.

“They did a really good job of creating pressure,” Hurts said. “Obviously Dexter Lawrence and Burns, just how they kind of compress the pocket. Those are great players, those are great talents for us, so sometimes they got home and sometimes we were able to make it happen.”