Eagles Wake Up, Get Right With Dominate Win Over Giants
Can we breathe a little easier now?
The Philadelphia Eagles snapped out of their recent funk with a Thursday Night blowout of the New York Giants, evening their record at 3-3 and earning their first win within the division.
The key tonight was getting off to a fast start. Kamu Grugier-Hill set the tone with an interception of Eli Manning on the Giants’ opening drive. Grugier-Hill set up a short field in which Carson Wentz connected with Alshon Jeffery for an easy score, giving the Eagles the lead from which they would never look back.
“Carson Wentz turned in his best performance of the year, dropping over 275 with three touchdowns and no turnovers.”
The offense finally cracked 30 points for the first time all year after struggling to score in the low 20’s. Unlike previous games, Doug Pederson’s group did a much better job at protecting the football. There weren’t any catastrophic mistakes like the turnovers from previous weeks that allowed the Giants to gain momentum or get back into the game.
However, the news was not all good, with left tackle Jason Peters exiting with a bicep injury. A bicep tear would end his season.
“Big night for Alshon Jeffery who found the end zone twice.”
This was a very encouraging performance on the road on a short week for the Birds, given what the team had shown in the previous weeks.
Quick Thoughts
Offense
- Carson Wentz turned in his best performance of the year, dropping over 275 with three touchdowns and no turnovers.
- Give Lane Johnson a lot of credit for toughing out a high ankle sprain and playing in this one on the short week. There was serious doubt before the game that Johnson would be able to give it a go, but he was able to make it through.
- The line did a much better job protecting Wentz this week, allowing just one sack.
- With the game firmly in hand, Johnson was removed from the game, with Isaac Seumalo shifting out to right tackle.
- Corey Clement’s return gave the offense a nice boost, with Clement picking up a touchdown in the first half.
- Big night for Alshon Jeffery who found the end zone twice. Alshon caught eight balls for 74 yards on the night.
- Nelson Agholor had a great moment in this game, getting behind the defense on a broken play for a 50-yard reception.
- Minimal involvement for Dallas Goedert once again, who caught just one pass for seven yards.
- No involvement for Shelton Gibson after his big 48-yard reception a week ago.
Defense
- Four sacks for the defense tonight, coming from Michael Bennett, Nigel Bradham, and Destiny Vaeao.
- The Eagles did a good job shutting down Odell Beckham, who was held to just 44 yards on six catches.
- Saquon Barkley on the other hand, ripped the defense apart, putting up over 130 yards on the ground, and 99 more through the air. It was the first 100-yard rusher this defense has allowed in some time.
- Jalen Mills was burned for another big play. Grass is green, and water wet.
- I think Avonte Maddox has done a really nice job at the safety position, considering he had never played the position until a couple weeks ago.
Special Teams
- Should we be concerned about Jake Elliot? The second-year kicker missed another long-range shot tonight.
- DeAndre Carter had his second big punt return in three weeks. It’s nice to see Carter get a chance to contribute, and make the most of his role.
Final Thoughts
Eli Manning is god awful, isn’t he? Watching him play football these days is just painful. He’s just got no pop left in his game, and it really takes away from some of the talent that the team has in their receiver group.
You can’t say the same for Saquon Barkley. My goodness, that guy is going to have one heck of a career, and he’s going to be a force for the Eagles to reckon with in the division over the years to come. Running backs with his gamebreaking ability don’t come around too often. People debate whether or not the Giants should have taken a quarterback with the second overall pick, I can’t fault them at all for going with the special talent in Barkley.
This was such an important win for the Eagles. While the division would not have been out of reach had they lost, the optics of being in the basement of the NFC East with 10 days until their next one would not have been a pleasant thing.
This was a great “get-right” game for this team.
