Are the New York Giants a good football team? No. They are not.

But the Eagles went up to the Meadowlands and totally hammered a division rival on their home field, and outside of a slow offensive start they controlled the game from start to finish. The defense put in their best performance since New Orleans and sacked Daniel Jones seven times (!). Saquon Barkley ran for 176 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries in his first game against his former team and not once, not twice, but three times at the goal line did the Eagles shove it right down the Giants’ throats. They put boots to asses up at MetLife and played SMASH MOUTH FOOTBALL. This game was over with more than ten minutes remaining in the fourth and we were treated to a Kenny Pickett vs. Drew Lock showdown to close it out.

After last week’s lackluster showing, and all of the assorted Nick Sirianni discourse throughout the week, this was wanted. This was needed. The panacea to cure all ills. The Eagles went out and handled business in what amounted to a workmanlike and professional win in stinky and swampy North Jersey. Let’s keep it going and build on the momentum of a two-game win streak.

1) Illegal formation on the opening kickoff? Fire Michael Clay!

2) The Giants decided to punt from the Eagles’ 45 after their opening drive stalled. It was 4th and 3 at that point and they kicked it to the Philly 16, so they gained a net of 29 yards with that decision. In hindsight, that was a pretty telling snapshot of their offensive performance on the afternoon.


3) Another poor opening drive. Jalen Hurts hit A.J. Brown for 11 on the first play, then Saquon  was stuffed on 1st down and Hurts took a sack on second. Saquon trucked some poor fool on the ensuing third down, but it wasn’t enough to pick up the 14 yards after they put themselves behind the sticks.

4) Giants’ second and third drives – nice to see Josh Sweat and Nolan Smith get home on 3rd and 6 and 3rd and 7. If the defensive line can generate pressure with a four-man rush, it changes everything. That was the key to the 2022 defense.

5) Mark Sanchez and that hair… He looks like “Todd” from Christmas Vacation, like a smarmy 90s television or movie villain. Or maybe the Tae Kwon Do teacher that your wife is cheating with.

6) Rare penalty on Landon Dickerson on the second Eagles drive, but a killer. It moved them back five yards and turned a 3rd and 5 into a 3rd and 10. The result? Sack and punt

7) The wildcat snap in the 1st quarter? Wrong place, wrong time. It felt like they were slowly moving the ball and finding a rhythm, then that play went for nothing and it put them in another third and long situation. Hurts took another sack and the Eagles found themselves punting again.

8) After all of the talk about the slow starts and lack of early scoring, the Eagles once again failed to put points on the board in the first quarter. They actually only ran one play on the Giants’ half of the field, which was the wildcat play.

9) What a block from Cam Jurgens on the huge Saquon 2nd quarter run. Sanchez is right; that was vintage Jason Kelce pulling into space and just clobbering a smaller guy at the next level. I’d love to see them get Jurgens out there and let him use his athleticism more.

10) It will never not be satisfying to watch a scrum that goes in your favor. This was just strength-on-strength and the Eagles did it better:

The only ran the ball on that touchdown drive. Five plays, no passes.

11) Bryce Huff’s sack might have been a coverage sack, but he kept his feet moving and got the job done after Daniel Jones double-pumped and failed to get rid of the ball. Whatever the circumstance, it’s gotta help the confidence and get him going.

12) Cooper DeJean is gonna break a punt return soon and take it to the house. He’s been a breath of fresh air out there.

13) That two-play series on the A.J. Brown touchdown exemplifies the Eagles this season. 3rd and 3? Hurts misses a wide-open DeVonta Smith coming across the middle. But 4th and 3? He throws the perfect deep ball for a 41-yard TD. Sometimes it feels like they’re living in the twilight zone, where everything easy looks hard, and everything hard looks easy.

14) I missed the last two minutes of the first half because I was working on this:

15) Speaking of which, the political commercials are way too much. It’s so bad. It’s worse than it was in 2020 and 2016.

16) One nice thing about the Birds’ running game is that they’re showing a variety of looks. Sweeps, pulls, pistol, inside zone, outside zone – they’re really mixing it up in the ways Saquon and Kenny Gainwell are getting the ball. Gainwell placed a nice game as well.

17) Still think Hurts is missing too many of these:

18) The fourth down that Hurts converted with his legs:

19) If you’re the defense, how demoralizing must it be to stop a tush push, only to then have it shoved right down your throat again? The Eagles scored three touchdowns right at the goal line, one from Saquon and two shoves. Those are the kinds of plays that juice the fans and get them excited again/

20) Daniel Jones stinks worse than limburger cheese. 14 for 21, 99 yards 0 TDs 0 INTs and benched for Drew Lock.

21) Saquon has 658 rushing yards through six games. That’s an average of 109.6 per game. His ability to hit those explosive runs really changes the flow of the game, and in this game the first one was the catalyst to get the Eagles going and start the deluge. Big day for these guys:

22) Best game the defensive line has played this year. And throw Nakobe Dean into the mix with the Georgia guys. Good day for the Bulldogs on the roster.

23) No turnovers for Jalen Hurts. Second clean week in a row from the QB.

24) DeVonta Smith finished with -2 receiving yards. Probably the first and last time that will ever happen.

25) Credit to this guy. He got ripped last week but his team showed up on Sunday: