The Philadelphia Eagles (2-6) host the NFC East division leading New York Giants (4-2-1) on Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Eagles are in the midst of a six-game skid, the longest since 2012. They look to avoid not only dropping a seventh in a row, but also losing their first game against the Giants at home since 2013.
Here are five key matchups to watch:
The quarterback matchup everyone had on their bingo card in Week 9 when the two teams meet for the first time this season on Sunday. .
All jokes aside, the pair of quarterbacks are on a “show me” type tour, looking to impress their current teams and others around the league to prove that they deserve a bigger role moving forward.
For the Giants, McCarthy has led the team to a 1-1 record in his first two games as a Giant after being traded from Minnesota for a 2027 fifth-round pick.
Coming in relief of Jameis Winston in Week 6 against the Saints, he threw for 243 yards, a touchdown and an interception. In his first start the week after against Houston, he threw for 252 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions while completing 20 of his 28 passes.
Milton provides intrigue for the Eagles after he was named the starting quarterback earlier in the week after Nick Sirianni said Tanner McKee was the team’s starter.
The former sixth-round pick has a cannon for an arm, but accuracy and decision making struggles have limited his ability to earn more opportunities as a starting quarterback. He’s played in five career games completing 37 of 53 passes, good or a 69.8% completion rate for 424 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
With his legs, he rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown.
He has more physical upside compared to McKee being a dual-threat under center and will look to make the most of his first chance leading the Eagles’ offense in front of the home crowd.
It’s another chance for Barkley to face his former team.
In three games against the Giants since joining the Eagles, he’s averaged 128.0 yards per game with a high of 176 yards in his first chance to go up against his former teammates back in 2024.
This time around, Barkley is still working his way back from his hamstring and back injuries.
We’ve seen him try to gut it out the last two weeks, playing 22 snaps against Washington last week but only mustered 30 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown. He did have a 24-yard catch.
The Giants ranked 26th in rush defense, allowing 128.1 yards per game, although they held the Texans to 84 yards in an overtime loss, a better showing for the unit after giving up 175, 202 and 123 yards over their previous three games.
Perhaps the Eagles offensive line, which will be playing together for a third straight week, can continue to build some continuity and help open the lanes up for Barkley.
This will be one of the better matchups to keep tabs on in this one.
Nabers, the number six overall pick out of LSU in 2024 is having a huge bounceback season after missing most of last year tearing his ACL.
This season, he has 48 catches for 605 yards, averaging 86.4 yards per game and has had over 100 yards receiving in each of his last four games. The only thing Nabers hasn’t done much of is find the endzone, scoring just twice.
He is coming off being named NFC Offensive Player of the Month thanks to his massive production in October.
Nabers primarily lines up on the outside so he will see Mitchell at times throughout the game, but it isn’t expected to be a constant matchup as the Eagles have not had Mitchell travel with opposing teams’ best receivers this season.
Mitchell has allowed just 27 catches on 50 targets this season for 293 yards.
The talented outside linebacker has been a wrecking ball this season.
He has recorded a 2.46-season average time to pressure this season according to NextGen Stats, good for the second-quickest mark among 85 edge defenders with at least 10 pressures.
Without Lane Johnson and Cam Jurgens, Philadelphia has allowed a 2.40-second average time to pressure in four full games, marking the quickest in the NFL.
The Eagles will need to be aware of where Carter is on the field at all times in this one.
As mentioned, the Eagles have not lost to the Giants at home since 2013, going a perfect 13-0 during that stretch outscoring New York 360-201 during that stretch.
Not much has gone right for the Eagles this season, and having their dominant streak continue over their division foe is certainly in jeopardy Sunday afternoon which would result in the first loss at home against New York since 15-7 win in that 2013 campaign where the Eagles’ lone touchdown came on a Najee Goode two-yard scoop and score.
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