4 Takeaways From the Eagles’ Win Over the Giants

PHILADELPHIA – Saquon Barkley swore he was never worried about the Eagles’ offense. In fact he insisted that if they could just get the running game going, “We’re going to be a hard team to stop.”

Well, he was right. Barkley and the Eagles had their breakout rushing game on Sunday with 276 yards in a dominant 38-20 win over the Giants. Barkley had 150 rushing yards 24 receiving with two touchdowns. The Giants have now lost 13 straight games in Philadelphia and eight of their last 10 overall against the Eagles.

Here are my takeaways:

1. What’s wrong with Saquon Barkley? Well, nothing

All that worry about the Eagles’ dynamic running back, and all he really needed was another game against his old team.

Barkley, as noted above, broke out of his season-long shell on Sunday with what was by far his best overall performance of the year. Sparked by a 65-yard touchdown run on his first touch of the game, he was off and running to his first 100-yard rushing game of the season, his first game with 100 total yards and his first two-touchdown game of the season, too.

Saquon Barkley rushes for 65-yard TD, giving Eagles early lead over Giants | NFL Highlights

Saquon Barkley rushed for a 65-yard TD, giving the Philadelphia Eagles an early lead over the New York Giants.

Barkley even averaged 10.7 yards per carry after coming into the game with an average of just 3.3. He did leave the game with a groin injury in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t immediately clear if that was serious at all. 

Regardless of whether he wanted to admit it, Barkley had been struggling mightily this year — so much so that he was on pace for fewer than 900 rushing yards for the entire season. It’s been a big reason why the Eagles offense had looked so dysfunctional.

Barkley responded on Sunday when they needed him most with receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury. And he was right – once he got going, the Giants simply couldn’t stop the Eagles’ offense at all.

2. Philly’s pass rush has a little life

The Eagles entered this game on Sunday with an anemic 11 sacks on the season — tied for the fifth fewest in the NFL — and still hurting from the surprise retirement of Za’Darius Smith two weeks ago. It’s why they lured 37-year-old Brandon Graham out of retirement last week, and why NFL sources told me they’ve been scouring the league for edge rushing help ahead of the trading deadline next week.

Against the Giants, though, the pass rush had a little spark. The Eagles sacked Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart five times and rarely let him get set up and comfortable in the pocket. It’s worth noting that the Giants’ offensive line isn’t its usual terrible self this season and has actually been more average and closer to the middle of the pack.

The Eagles still need help off the edge, where they don’t get a lot of push, but they do have some strong interior defenders that flashed in this game. Notably, Jalen Carter finally got his first sack of the year.

Moro Ojomo (97) and Jalen Carter (98) celebrate a sack in the fourth quarter. (Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

3. The Eagles shouldn’t even think about trading A.J. Brown

The Eagles probably won’t do it, but the rumors are persistent. Brown, their No. 1 receiver, is unhappy with his role in the offense, and there’s plenty of league speculation that the Eagles are open to dealing him if the price is right. 

But Philadelphia shouldn’t because even if he’s unhappy, his presence means way too much to their passing offense. With Brown out, Jalen Hurts was still able to get the ball down field to DeVonta Smith (six catches, 84 yards), but not really to anybody else. He did throw four touchdown passes but couldn’t even reach 200 yards passing and was pestered most of the game by the Giants’ pass rush as he searched for open receivers down the field.

The Eagles simply don’t have a viable third receiver — don’t count Jahan Dotson, who caught a 40-yard touchdown pass after the game was basically over — which means they have no one to step in and replace Brown.

Yes, Brown wants to catch the ball more. Whether he wants to admit it, though, he’s a big help to the Eagles just by being on the field. They’d be crazy to take that element out of their offense right now.

4. Cam Skattebo will be hard to replace

The fiery fourth-round pick out of Arizona State hadn’t exactly become one of the NFL’s best running backs yet, but Cam Skattebo was still proving to be invaluable to the Giants. Along with Dart, he was inspiring his team with his toughness, cockiness and his fearless play.

But there is a fear that the rookie and fan favorite could miss the rest of the season after he was carted off the field in the second quarter with what they said was a dislocated ankle. Skattebo was even taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.

Skattebo only had 410 rushing yards and 207 receiving yards this season (with a total of seven touchdowns) but his impact went beyond the numbers. He fired up his team with the way he ran with reckless abandon and took on defenders with seemingly no care for his own safety. He and Dart became the spark plugs for an offense that had been dormant for years.

Tyrone Tracy, who began the season as the starter, will replace Skattebo in the backfield. But his style is just not the same, nor is his play as inspirational.

4 1/2. What’s next?

The Philadelphia Eagles will get to enjoy their bye week knowing they’ve won two straight games and rediscovered Barkley, the engine of their offense. But the real test lies ahead. The last two weeks all they did was beat two flawed teams — the Giants and the Vikings. When they come back out of their bye they head to Green Bay and then home to face the Detroit Lions.

That will be the real test of whether they’re still the team to beat in the NFC. And then after that, they get to head to Dallas to make sure they still control their division too.

As for the Giants, things definitely don’t get any easier. This season is just one brutal game after another and their upcoming schedule is really unforgiving. They face the 49ers, then head to Chicago, come home for the Packers, and then head to Detroit and New England.

Then, and only then, will they finally get to rest on their unfortunately late bye week.

Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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