Can the Eagles do this every week?

The Eagles had not won back-to-back games since last November when they beat the Dallas Cowboys and the Kansas City Chiefs. 

The Eagles had not defeated a team by more than one possession since Oct. 22. 2023, when they defeated the Miami Dolphins.

The last time the Eagles had defeated a team by 24 or more points was against the New York Giants in the playoffs when they made the Super Bowl…. basically two years ago….

All those distressing streaks came to an end Sunday.

The Eagles finally put together a respectable victory , defeating the Giants 28-3 in an arguably must-win NFC East game.

With the Washington Commanders winning again (against a terrible Carolina Panthers team), the Eagles really needed to win this game to stay with Washington in the standings, and the Eagles did so by building a lead and maintaining that lead. It really was a good and welcomed win, albeit to a 2-5 Giants team. But, as the saying goes, a win is a win. And beating a divisional opponent is never easy, and the Eagles did so with dominance.

There is only one thing that needs to be addressed— the first-quarter woes continued Sunday. For the eighth consecutive game, the Eagles did not score in the opening quarter. They punted three times in the first quarter. But besides that, there wasn’t too much to complain about. Still, the Eagles have to figure out what is holding them back in the first quarter. Luckily it was the Browns last week and the Giants on Sunday, but the Eagles have a talented Cincinnati Bengals team next week. The Eagles need to start strong in the first quarter, especially with the game being in Cincinnati. Besides that, the Eagles should be pleased with the win, and hopefully the momentum continues to build the rest of the season. 

The defense was again amazing. For the second straight week, the Eagles did not allow an offensive touchdown. Giants standout rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers, who was coming off a concussion, was held to just 41 yards on four receptions. He entered the game with 386 yards on 35 receptions in five games. He was one of the leading wide receivers in the league, even missing two games, and the Eagles shut him down. 

The Eagles defense is young, so growing pains were expected to start the season. But let’s hope they are getting into a rhythm. They allowed only 119 total yards Sunday. That’s fantastic, and it’s a nod to the entire defense, especially young stars like Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. This defense has many young players, but the hope is they will only grow each week. 

The defense finished with eight sacks, one each from Josh Sweat, Nolan Smith and Bryce Huff. It was Huff’s first full sack this season (he got a half last week). Sweat had not gotten a sack in his last 11 games. They had five sacks last week, so the defense is bringing the pressure. They have been stopping the run. They have been good on coverage. Again, the last two weeks were against the Cleveland Browns and Giants, two not-so-great teams. Still, what the defense has been doing is incredible compared to earlier in the season. They were inconsistent, so playing dominant defense for two straight weeks is very awesome to see. Again, you have to take in account who they have played, so let’s see if they can take care of the Bengals like the Browns and Giants.

And that brings us to Saquon Barkley.

Playing against this former team, I had a feeling he was going to have a big day, as long as the coaching staff gave him the ball. He Finished with 176 rushing yards on 17 carries, including his 3-yard touchdown, which was something of beauty. He ran up the middle and basically pushed four defenders on his way to the end zone. Again, he pushed four defenders into the end zone. Wow! He is an amazing player. Coming into the season, I was worried about how much the Eagles paid him and if he could make a huge difference or not. I assumed he would make an immediate impact, but you never know. The Eagles signed big-name running backs in the past who did not live up to the high expectations, like DeMarco Murray. But, man, Barkley is a legit threat… and the Giants let him go! He has a better offensive line for the first time in his career, and he has way better weapons around him. He rushed for 55 yards on his TD drive, too. That just shows his explosiveness. In my opinion, he has been the MVP of the Eagles so far, and they need to keep feeding him. I also like the 17 carries. It was just enough. I don’t want to overuse him and risk injury, but he should get a decent amount of carries  because he can make things happen. 

And as good as Barkley was, the overall running game was just as impressive.

Kenny Gainwell rushed for 56 yards on 13 carries. Jalen Hurts added 22 rushing yards, Will Shipley 15. And, I get it, teams will run more when they are up by so much late in a game. It’s the efficiency of the running game that was great. The Giants could have stopped the run late, but they didn’t. The Eagles kept pounding it, and had success doing it. So, that was very exciting! It was a great game for the coaching staff, too. They dialed up the right play calls to take advantage of the Giants. 

Jalen Hurts did not have a turnover for the second straight week. Even though he had just 114 yards on 10 completions, he did what he had to do. He made some great throws, like his 41-yard TD pass to A.J. Brown. And speaking of Brown, the Eagles are 3-0 with him this season and 1-2 without. They average 27.3 points with him and 17.3 without him. With the talent the Eagles have on offense, it’s crazy just how much an impact Brown has. But that just shows how talented of a player he is. For the Eagles sake, Brown needs to stay healthy the rest of the season.

But, back to Hurts… he also had some great rushes, including for timely first downs. But the biggest thing is he did not turn the ball over. The Eagles are 19-7 when he doesn’t have a turnover, and they are 21-16 when he does have a turnover. Let’s hope Hurts’ no-turnover streak continues next week, because coughing up the ball against a way better team than the Giants or Browns could be costly. 

For now, the Eagles are 4-2 and should be pleased with their performance Sunday. 

To quote Bill Belichick, it’s “On to Cincinnati.”