The Philadelphia Eagles (6-2) dominated their rivals in the New York Giants (2-6) with a 38-20 win on Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field, with the backups closing out the game. With the win, the Eagles continued to pad their lead in the NFC East and also improved to 5-0 in their Kelly Green jerseys. Now, the team will have two weeks to enjoy the win, get key players A.J. Brown and Cam Jurgens back healthy and gear up for the back half of the season.
Here are five takeaways from the victory on Sunday.
There were questions surrounding how the offense would look without its top receiver and starting center in this rematch against the Giants. Simply put, the offense had no problem executing and playing complementary football without two of their anchors.
DeVonta Smith once again stepped up for the Eagles, leading the way with six catches for 84 yards. Dallas Goedert scored two touchdowns on three catches and continues to put in a career year. He is now just three touchdowns shy of tying the franchise record for most receiving touchdowns by a tight end set by Pete Rezlaff in 1965.
Jalen Hurts had just five incompletions, throwing for a season-high four touchdowns and 179 yards while once again not throwing an interception.
Brett Toth played very well in place of Jurgens at center after having a full week at practice at the position and held his own against a strong Giants’ defensive front to help the Eagles play their best complementary football of the season.
Landon Dickerson was impressed by Toth’s performance but knew the backup's work would pay dividends.
“I thought Brett did a good job,” Dickerson told reporters Sunday after the win.
“It’s tough, he’s a swing guy so he goes in for anybody. Just for him to have a week at center, go in and make the calls and played against a really good defensive tackle, I thought he played well.”
It took more than two months into the regular season, but the Eagles finally had one of their trademark rushing games that made them so dominant on their way to their second Super Bowl title.
Saquon Barkley set the tone early, ripping off a 65-yard touchdown on the second play of the game. It was his first rush of the season for 20 or more yards. Barkley finished with his first 100-yard rushing game of the season, racking up 150 yards before exiting the game in the fourth quarter with a groin injury. He also had four catches for 24 yards and another touchdown.
Tank Bigsby also had his first signature game since joining the Eagles after it looked like it may have been a swing and a miss by Howie Roseman, spending a pair of draft picks to acquire the running back from Jacksonville. Primarily used as a kick returner to start his tenure in Philadelphia and struggled, Bigsby has earned more carries spelling Barkley and he looks more comfortable in that role.
Bigsby finished with 104 yards on nine carries, including picking up a 2nd and 31 to help the Eagles pull away in the fourth quarter.
“Just doing what I need to do to help the team win. Just thankful for the opportunity. I’ve always been ready in my lane as well,” Bigbsy told reporters after the win.
Barkley averaged 10.7 yards per carry while Bigsby averaged 11.6 per touch. The duo became the first pair of Eagles’ running backs to rush for 100 yards or more in a game since LeSean McCoy and Bryce Brown did so in 2013.
A lot has been made of Hurts as a quarterback in regional to national conversations. There is no denying that the quarterback is playing at an elite level and may have put himself into the MVP conversation after his performances over the last two weeks.
With four more touchdowns and no interceptions thrown on Sunday, Hurts has seven touchdown passes to nine incomplete passes over the last two games. Across the last six games, he has thrown 15 touchdowns to just one interception after not throwing for a score in each of the first two games of the season, both of which the Eagles won.
The only other starting quarterbacks with double-digit touchdowns and just one interception thrown are Sam Darnold (15:1) and Lamar Jackson (10:1).
Hurts has the third-best passer rating in the league at 114.4, tied for fifth with 15 passing touchdowns, and has completed 70.2% of his passes, which is good for sixth in the NFL.
It was the second game back for Dean, returning from his knee injury that forced him to miss nearly the first half of this season. On Sunday, he played 33 snaps on defense, which was 63% of the defensive snaps, notably more than rookie Jihaad Campbell, who played a season-low 21 snaps (40%).
Dean’s aggressive and physical style of play has been missed by the defense and has made a difference in the last two games. The linebacker finished with five tackles in the win, tied for the second-most along with Reed Blankenship.
It will be an interesting development moving forward on how Vic Fangio utilizes both Dean and Campbell, who have been in the Defensive Rookie of the Year conversation after a strong start to the season.
The Eagles struggled keeping the rookie quarterback inside the pocket in the Week 6 meeting, where Dart ran for 58 yards and a touchdown in the Giants’ 34-17 win. On Sunday, the Eagles' defensive front made it a lot tougher for Dart to find running lanes to escape, allowing Dart to rush for just 17 yards on six carries while sacking him five times.
The five sacks were the most in any game for the Eagles' defense so far this season.
In addition, the Eagles also held rookie running back Cam Skattebo, who ran for 99 yards and three touchdowns in Week 6, in check on the ground to just 12 yards on three carries before he had to leave the game with a gruesome ankle injury midway through the second quarter. It is a tough blow for the Giants, losing their young playmaking running back. He underwent surgery at a local Philadelphia hospital on Sunday night to repair his dislocated ankle.
The Eagles will now have 14 days off until their next game, which will be a big NFC showdown when they visit the Green Bay Packers (5-1-1), who just beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-25 on Sunday Night Football, and host the Carolina Panthers in Week 9.
