Sad-sack Giants lost this one before it started. Next time, don’t poke the bear (or Saquon)
The rest of the NFC can blame the Giants if this was the game in which the Eagles truly got their groove back.
Two weeks ago, Brian Daboll stood in front of his locker room and labeled a blowout win over the Eagles as “The Standard.”
Since then, the Giants head coach has become reacquainted with The Usual.
The Eagles accomplished their biggest objective on Sunday afternoon. It was to leave no doubt. Jaxson Dart would not be high-fiving any referees. Kayvon Thibodeaux would not be telling anybody to “[bleep] the Eagles.” And the Giants social media team most definitely would not be sharing any victorious videos of Daboll making grandiose proclamations to his players.
» READ MORE: Eagles grades: Saquon Barkley leads revived running game and defensive line dominates Giants in blowout win
“For sure, we definitely saw how they celebrated when they beat us last time,” running back Saquon Barkley said after his 65-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage catapulted the Eagles to a 38-20 win on Sunday.
It is never wise to poke the bear, but it is especially unwise to poke the bear when you know you will be seeing the bear again in 17 days. If you are going to do it, you’d better pack some extra whistles. Or, failing that, some A.1.
What the Giants seem to have forgotten is that they are not a good football team. In fact, they are the kind of football team that makes a sport of their not being good. Ten days after they stunned the Eagles with a 34-17 rout on Thursday Night Football, they raced out to a 19-point lead over the Broncos and then allowed 25 points in the last six minutes to lose, 33-32. It takes a special team to lose a game in that fashion. But, then, the Giants are a special team. They lose games the way Bob Ross painted pictures. With breathtaking creativity and speed.
On Sunday, the movable object met the unstoppable force. The Eagles came out in their kelly green uniforms and they did it in vintage fashion. On their second play of the game, the offensive line opened up a weakside lane so wide that Barkley and Tank Bigsby both could have run through it. Never has a 65-yard touchdown looked so inevitable. Nor did the 189 yards that followed from Barkley and Bigsby. After the game, more than one Eagles offensive lineman noted how good the Giants’ front four was. You got the sense that they were noting it with glee.
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“We came in, we made the adjustments based off of what they gave us the last game, and we called plays to win,” guard Landon Dickerson said.
The rest of the NFC can blame the Giants if this was the game in which the Eagles truly got their groove back. They entered Week 8 having gone five straight weeks without breaking 90 yards rushing. Not once had they reached 400 total yards of offense. On Sunday, they finished with 276 and 427. Barkley and Bigsby both cracked 100 yards and averaged 10-plus yards per carry. This, on an afternoon when Jalen Hurts threw four touchdown passes.
“For us, it wasn’t about a weight being lifted off our shoulders,” said left tackle Jordan Mailata. “We just wanted to be the more physical team. It didn’t matter what it looked like.”
It shouldn’t surprise anybody at this point.
The Eagles have won a lot of games over the last four years by rag-dolling opponents, often saving their best for teams that have previously offended their sensibilities. We saw it in last year’s NFC championship game, when they road-graded the Commanders for 229 yards on the ground one month after Washington handed them one of their three regular-season losses. We saw it in last year’s Super Bowl, when they avenged their last-second loss two years earlier, to an extent that was almost uncomfortable.
Give the Giants credit. They are a more competitive team than they have been throughout most of Daboll’s tenure at the helm. For all of Dart’s weird Gen-Z energy, he clearly has the touch and poise that can win behind a competent offensive line. Rival NFL general managers should take notice if Act I ends up going the way of Baker Mayfield in Cleveland. He has a keen sort of talent that cannot be measured or quantified, although it probably cannot make up for wholesale dysfunction around him. You saw it even on Sunday, when he kept the Giants within striking distance despite relentless pressure and a no-name receiving corps and a gruesome injury to running back Cam Skattebo.
» READ MORE: Eagles defense shows ‘sense of pride’ and wins physicality battle this time vs. Giants
But the Eagles are operating on a different level. It is easy to lose sight of that fact given that they are operating on a lesser level than last season. The last couple of weeks have left little doubt, though. At 6-2 headed into the bye, they remain the most complete team in the NFC.
More than anything, Sunday’s win was a reminder that rumors of Barkley’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Even after his 65-yard touchdown run, the veteran running back gained 85 yards on his last 13 carries before leaving the game with what was labeled a groin injury but mostly was precaution.
“I wasn’t worried about it,” Barkley said. “I came off, but I’ve dealt with this before. Nothing crazy. It’s a long season. I try my best to listen to the trainers, listen to the coaches.”
Did he fight to go back in?
“I went out swinging,” he said. “Let’s say that.”
With these Eagles, you wouldn’t expect anything else.