Jalen Carter, Landon Dickerson, Nakobe Dean among five reasons Eagles will win the rematch vs. Giants

Nobody saw it coming. Not even the Giants.

“Quite honestly, nobody really expected us to put up a performance like this,” Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart said afterward.

Maybe we should have.

One of the more shocking upsets in recent Eagles history happened at MetLife Stadium on Oct. 9, when the 1-4 Giants got their second win over the 4-1 Eagles, who were defending Super Bowl champions and the winners of the last seven truly meaningful games against their closest NFC East rivals.

Should it have been so shocking?

After all, the Giants’ losses came at the Commanders, who had the services of since-injured quarterback Jayden Daniels; at the Cowboys, who have the No. 1 offense; at home against the Chiefs, a current dynasty; and at the Saints, where Dart, in his second start, committed three of the Giants’ five turnovers.

» READ MORE: Can the return of Brandon Graham fill the leadership void on the Eagles defense?

Further, the Eagles played without two Pro Bowl players, defensive tackle Jalen Carter and guard Landon Dickerson, and they lost top cornerback Quinyon Mitchell in the second quarter.

So, maybe the Giants weren’t so bad, and, clearly, the Eagles weren’t as deep as they needed to be.

A lot has changed in two weeks. That should make all the difference come Sunday afternoon.

Dickerson was the seventh-best guard in the league last season, according to Pro Football Focus, when he was named to his third straight Pro Bowl and played in his second Super Bowl in three seasons. He has dealt with knee surgery that cost him most of training camp, a back injury that limited him in September, and an ankle injury that cost him the Giants game. He’s still ranked in the middle of the pack.

Dickerson was his healthiest this season last Sunday in Minneapolis, and the resulting grade showed it. Even with fifth-year backup Brett Toth playing at center for the first time next to him, Dickerson dominated.

Toth was Dickerson’s replacement in the loss to the Giants. Things did not go well.

The Eagles built their defense around Carter, who has succeeded Fletcher Cox as the franchise’s core defensive player. Carter’s injured heel cost him the game against the Giants, but the 10 days between the Giants game and the trip to Minnesota not only gave the heel time to heal (heh heh), it also allowed his sprained right shoulder to strengthen.

The shoulder cost him time in training camp and, intermittently, during the regular season. It also made him a horrific tackler: the worst, in fact, among all NFL defenders, according to PFF.

Also, he’s finally in good enough shape to be effective for more than half an NFL game. Of course, there’s no viable reason he should not have been in better shape to start the season.

You don’t run on your shoulder.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ Jalen Hurts again roasts Carson Wentz; A.J. Brown says ‘Just throw me the bleeping ball’

In Minnesota, Hurts and his top three receivers, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert, finally appeared to be in sync. Hurts threw for 326 yards and had a perfect 158.3 passer rating for the first time in his career.

Much had been made about the ineffectiveness of the passing game through the first six games, but, as we warned when the season began, injuries to Brown and Smith kept the passing attack from practicing as a complete unit the entire preseason, which is why the preseason (and preseason games) exist. Hurts is always gun-shy. He’s much more gun-shy when he’s not comfortable. Last Sunday, for the first time, he looked comfortable.

Also, the team changed offensive coordinators for the third consecutive season.

Also, the offensive line has played just one of seven games from start to finish with its starters intact, and that’s why the Eagles won at Kansas City.

There’s a little more tape on Dart, whose elusiveness and fearlessness are a formidable combination. Combine that with unpredictability, and you get a kid who will make a lot of plays but will also make a lot of mistakes.

A lot of the tape on Dart shows Eagles defenders getting roasted.

Don’t expect much more of that sort of tape from Sunday’s game.

Nobody commanded more respect in the Eagles locker room last season than 15-year veteran defensive end Brandon Graham. His return from retirement Tuesday will resound whether or not he takes a snap on Sunday.

A close second: third-year linebacker Nakobe Dean. Before he injured his pectoral muscle in the playoffs last season, he ranked 10th among all linebackers in overall defense, seventh as a pass rusher, according to PFF, and his impact as a tackler in his return Sunday was dynamic: He had six tackles, three solos, and a tackle for loss … on just 23% of the defensive snaps.