Giants struggle ‘all the way around’ in loss to Eagles

In the second half, the Giants’ six possessions ended with five punts and a 2-yard rush on the game’s final play. They never got closer to the Philadelphia goal line than the Eagles’ 49-yard line. The final result was a 28-3 Eagles victory that dropped the Giants’ record to 2-5, including 0-3 in the NFC East and 0-4 at home. They have scored only one touchdown in those four games.

The Giants gained just 119 yards, their lowest total in 25 years (since Sept. 12, 1999). Looking to generate a spark, Daboll replaced Jones with backup Drew Lock in the fourth quarter. The Giants totaled 15 yards in four possessions, including Eric Gray’s last play run.

“Certainly, a tough game,” Daboll said. “Got outcoached, got outplayed. Made a change in the fourth quarter when it was 28-3, we had 100 yards, just to create a spark. Daniel will be the quarterback going forward. But obviously, we didn’t do enough offensively. Hardly had any yards, no points. Defensively, I thought we battled hard. We had two big runs in the first half and then that fourth down (41-yard touchdown pass) to (Eagles wide receiver) A.J. (Brown). Then the game kind of got away from us. They ran the ball. Just not a good day, all the way around. No excuses. We got to play better and coach better.”

Both teams played throwback football, as the Giants finished with 43 net passing yards and Philadelphia had 70. But the Eagles deployed the game’s primary weapon in Saquon Barkley, the former Giants running back who moved to Philadelphia in the offseason. Barkley rushed for 176 yards, his highest ever total in MetLife Stadium. He had runs of 55, 41 and 38 yards and scored Philadelphia’s first touchdown on a 3-yard run. The Eagles also got a pair of one-yard tush-push touchdown runs by quarterback Jalen Hurts.

“To be honest, I’m so happy this game is over,” Barkley said. “I don’t think I should get, besides today, any more questions about the Giants. But like I’ve always said, I’m thankful for the organization. They’re the team that drafted me. I’ve still got nothing but love and respect for the guys over there. I’m happy to be an Eagle and most importantly we got a win today in the division. It’s a division rival and now it’s on to the next one.”

Barkley’s 176 yards was the second-highest total by a running back in his first game against a former team. On Oct. 25, 2009, Cincinnati’s Cedric Benson rushed for 189 yards against the Chicago Bears, the team that drafted him fourth overall in 2005. Barkley was the second overall selection in 2018.

Although he is the fourth-leading rusher in Giants history, Barkley was loudly booed throughout the first half.

“I know what kind of player he was to this organization and who he was to me, so I have nothing but respect for him,” defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence said. “I can’t control how other people feel about him, but I know who he is. … I played with him for years. I know his attitude towards the game, and that’s the way he approached it today.”

The Giants could get nothing going on offense. They had just 10 first downs and converted three-of-14 third-down opportunities. The Giants punted on their first six possessions and their only advance into the red zone ended with Joseph’s field goal.

Perhaps most telling was the difference in big plays. The Eagles ran six plays that gained 15 or more yards. The Giants had none, one week after their longest play in a loss to Cincinnati was 15 yards. Their longest gain Sunday was 14 yards, and they ran just six plays longer than nine yards. The Giants’ grind-it-out offense is in danger of turning the season to dust.

“The two areas that we continue to work on, actually three, over and over again, are third-down, red zone and explosive plays,” Daboll said. “Another game where, I don’t know what our longest play was, it couldn’t have been too long, 14 yards. But it’s hard to generate points when your longest play is 14 yards or your longest play last week was 15 yards. So, you can do that one of two ways: catch and run or push the ball down the field and give our guys some chances or go up and make some plays. We’re continuing to work on that. Those are two areas that we put a lot of time and effort in and we’re not getting the results equal to the work and the effort that we’re putting into it. Those are two areas.”

Jones completed 14 of 21 passes for 99 yards. In the Giants’ first game this season without stellar left tackle Andrew Thomas, Jones was sacked seven times. But he blamed himself for the offense’s lack of production.

“As quarterback, I think it is my responsibility to get everything going and build rhythm, build momentum, execute the opportunities that are there, and I take that seriously,” he said. “I will certainly look at myself first and see where I can improve. Football is a team game, and it takes everybody playing well but I got a big role in that and take that very seriously.”

When the Giants began their first possession of the fourth quarter with 11:26 remaining, Lock was behind center to take his first regular season snap with the Giants. Daboll said he did not consider changing quarterbacks earlier.

“The score didn’t get out of hand,” he said. “I thought we had some chances there to make some plays. We just didn’t make them. I wasn’t going to take him out then. All the way around, not just the quarterback, the coaching, everything, just wasn’t good enough.”

Jones was unhappy about watching the final quarter from the bench area, but he had to concede the results were poor.

“I think just our execution wasn’t there,” he said. “Third down was obviously an issue, sustaining drives and getting in a rhythm, so frustrating. We’ll look at the tape and see where we can improve and certainly look at myself and see where I need to improve.

“It was frustrating (not playing). You want to be out there playing with your teammates and fighting to score points and move the ball. So, I was frustrated but not my decision. Yeah, frustrating for sure, I want to be out there playing.”

Lock didn’t fare any better. He was sacked once and completed just three of eight passes for six yards.

“When a backup gets to a certain point in the game, running into the fourth quarter, you kind of expect that change to happen,” Lock said. “Never assume, but you just have to be ready. Then he told me ‘You’re going to go in, try to get something going.’ You obviously hope that doesn’t happen. I was excited to get back out there. The last time I got hit, which wasn’t ideal, but it felt good to be back out there, get the jitters out a little bit, play football.

“I’m obviously trying to fulfill the expectations of the guys around me, wanting to play well for them, but I’m also wanting to fulfill my expectations of what I can do. Regardless of what type of situation you get put in, at the end, it’s tough, it is what it is. That’s what I signed up to do. Hopefully, this is my last time doing that in that situation, because we go out, sling it a little bit. Try to get something going, try to get something rolling. It just is what it is really. You got to go out there and try to throw it around when you’re in a situation like that.”

Right now, no one on the Giants’ offense is fulfilling expectations. But they have 10 games remaining to write a better ending to the season’s story.