Eagles vs Giants: 5 matchups to watch in NFC East rivalry clash

The Philadelphia Eagles (4-1) are still atop the NFC East, holding a game lead over Washington despite putting up the third-fewest yards per game and fourth-lowest yards per play in the NFL. It's almost unfathomable to believe that an offense with a Super Bowl MVP in Jalen Hurts, a 2,000-yard rusher in Saquon Barkley and one of the best wide receiver duos in the league in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith sit at near the bottom in such stats.

However, that is how the 2025 season has gone thus far for Philadelphia.

The offense will have a chance to put together its first complete game against the New York Giants (1-4) who allow 377 yards per game which ranks 26th in the football and get some feel good vibes back after the offense was stymied in the second half of their loss against Denver after scoring a touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter.

Here are five matchups to keep an eye on as the NFC rivals clash for the 186th time.

Saquon Barkley vs. his former team

This will be the second game he will play against his former team. He became a fan favorite and etched his name in the NFL record book in his first season as an Eagle rushing for 2,005 yards in the regular season, the eighth-most in a single season in NFL history.

He turned in a dominant performance in Week 6 last season in a 28-3 win where he ran for 176 yards, a then season-high to go along with two touchdowns. It was one of his 11 games where he ran for 100-plus yards.

The Eagles would love for a similar performance to ignite what has been a lackluster rushing attack through the first five weeks of the season. Barkley has not rushed for over 90 yards in a game this season and had the lowest number of carries in a game that he has started and finished in his career with six in Sunday's loss, rushing for just 30 yards with 17 of those coming on one play in the first half.

Barkley is averaging just 3.2 yards per carry this season, but the Giants have allowed 140 yards rushing per game this season which is 26th in the NFL. Even with a banged up offensive line, Philadelphia should find ways to get Barkley some room.

It is notable that the running back is reportedly dealing with a knee injury, popping up on the team's injury report earlier this week. The team is doing strictly walkthroughs, but if they were practicing this week, Barkley would have sat out on Monday while being a limited participant on Tuesday but is expected to be good to go for the game.

Zack Baun and Jihaad Campbell vs. Theo Johnson

The linebacker duo in Baun and Campbell has been one of the best in the NFL so far this season with their ability to lay big hits, pressure the quarterback and drop back in coverage. The two will look to continue their strong defense against tight ends this season when they face Theo Johnson.

Johnson, a 6-foot-6, 265-pound target for rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart has come on strong over the last two weeks specifically finding the endzone. He is coming off a two-touchdown game in a 26-14 loss at New Orleans while also finding pay dirt two weeks ago in a 21-18 win over the Chargers.

The Eagles though have defended tight ends well this season, thanks to the strong play from the two linebackers, having allowed just one tight end to rack up over 40 yards receiving in Travis Kelce (61 yards) while allowing just one touchdown to tight ends this season.

Eagles' Red Zone offense vs. Giants' Red Zone defense

What has helped the Eagles get off to a 4-1 record despite the lowly offensive production is their ability to cash in once they get inside the 20-yard line. Philadelphia owns a league-best 92.3% Red Zone scoring percentage (TDs only), the only team to be 90% or above thanks to a 12-for-13 start when in the Red Zone. The next closest team is Miami at 76.9%.

The Giants have done a solid job defensively in the Red Zone, coming into the game tied for 9th in the NFL allowing touchdowns 57.1% of the time. The only two teams with a better Red Zone defense in that regard are two teams the Eagles already played including Denver (28.6%) and the Los Angeles Rams (53.3%). The Eagles were 1-for-2 in the Red Zone in the Denver loss but a perfect 3-for-3 in their epic comeback win against L.A.

Eagles' banged up offensive line vs. Giants' front four

Philadelphia's offensive line has not been playing at the high standard that they have been over the last two seasons. Lane Johnson has been battling injuries through the first five games, Landon Dickerson most likely will not play Thursday night with an ankle injury and Cam Jurgens is still getting back to 100% from his back surgery he had last year.

Brett Toth will presumably start in place of Dickerson. Toth had a tough go at it against Denver and will look to bounce back alongside the rest of the starting offensive line to try and open up running lanes for Barkley and give Hurts the time he needs to get the ball to his playmakers.

It will not be an easy test. The Giants have some playmakers of their own on defense who can cause havoc including rookie Abdul Carter. The third overall pick out of Penn State in this year's draft had a strong showing last week, generating six pressures on 23 pass rushes (26.1%) with four of his pressures coming under 2.5 seconds per Next Gen Stats. Carter is tied for the second-most QB hits for the Giants with eight.

Joining Carter is outside linebacker Brian Burns who already has five sacks on the season. tied for second-most in the NFL, while Kayvon Thibodeaux has 2.5 sacks to go along with four tackles for a loss and eight QB hits.

Additionally, this is a Giants' defense that can creature pressure with just a four-man rush with 48 of their 79 pressures coming with just four pass rushers.

Nick Sirianni vs. Brian Daboll

The two head coaches have had polar opposite trajectories. After winning the Coach of the Year Award for leading the Giants to a 9-7-1 record in 2022, the Giants are a woeful 10-29 since and he owns a 19-36-1 record since manning the sidelines for the Giants.

Meanwhile, Sirianni is 52-21 in his career, posting the second-best winning percentage in the Super Bowl Era (min. 50 games), behind only Hall of Famer John Madden. The Eagles also have dominated New York under Sirianni posting a 7-2 record against their rivals, outscoring the G-Men 240-136.

Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. at MetLife Stadium with Philadelphia looking to go 2-0 in divisional play.