New York Giants Week 7: Three Keys to Beating the Philadelphia Eagles

The New York Giants lost a heartbreaker in a primetime bout to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6. Still, they must learn from their offensive faults and move on quickly, as the Philadelphia Eagles are coming to town for another momentous matchup. 

While every meeting between the two teams is important, an extra source of flare will be added to the 184th overall contest by the homecoming of former Giants running back Saquon Barkley. 

The Pro Bowl ball carrier will return to East Rutherford after leaving the franchise in free agency and signing a three-year deal with the NFC East foe after failing to find common ground in two rounds of contract talks with New York.

Barkley’s switch to the other side of the rivalry is not the only thing the Giants need to prepare for when facing the Eagles. They also have one of the most talented offensive attacks in the league, headlined by their dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receiver combo of AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith. When healthy, these two can unleash a lot of damage on weaker opposing secondaries. 

After finishing in the top-10 offenses sans Barkley last season, the Eagles stand modestly at 18th and 10th in total points and yards, the more significant part coming from their revamped rushing game, which averages 4.7 yards per carry with their new guy.

On the passing end, they still produce the 14th-highest yards and have six touchdowns to their name, which is equal to the Giants’ aerial total through six games this season. Philadelphia’s efforts have been a lot more diverse as well, with four players averaging at least 12.6 yards per reception in the same span. 

Despite all that, the Eagles’ season hasn’t come together as well as it should on the scoreboard. They are rolling into MetLife Stadium with a 3-2 record and a couple of games that could have gone the other way. 

They haven’t scored more than 21 points since the season opener, meaning the 2-4 Giants have a chance to compete if their offense can strike gold more than they did in the previous loss. 

Much is on the line for this historic divisional rivalry, and an important win is up for grabs in what has been a mediocre year for the NFC East. If the Giants want to leave Week 7 with their third victory in the column, these are the three keys they’ll need to master against the Eagles.

One area that the Giants must improve in if they want to establish consistent success and earn a leg up on the Philadelphia Eagles is striking the iron while it’s hot and getting points on the scoreboard early. 

While the offense has made definitive strides in the scoring department since their abysmal showing in Week 1, starting on a fast note has still been a struggle. The Giants have scored 18+ points in three of their last five games but have scored less than seven points in the first quarter of five contests and average only 9.2 first-half points in their six games total. 

On the other side, they are facing an Eagles offense that doesn’t come firing out the gate either. The Birds, who boasted the seventh-highest points in the NFL last season with their talented unit, have been just as dry in the first 15 minutes, failing to post a single point in any of their own five games while earning a lesser 8.2 points in the first two frames.

Last Sunday, Philadelphia struggled to move the ball against the woeful Cleveland Browns, achieving 21 yards on their first two drives. They finally managed a solid 14-play march towards the end of the first quarter heading into the second, but only to notch their first points on a 49-yard Jake Elliot field goal at the 13:02 mark of the second frame. 

Likewise, the Giants had the opportunity of a lifetime to blow the top of a Cincinnati Bengals squad that had been reeling to start the season and allowed at least 24 points in four of their first five contests. 

Yet, they were fruitless in the first 30 minutes, including Daniel Jones throwing an interception outside of the endzone. They remained scoreless until the end of a 16-play drive capped off by a Tyrone Tracy touchdown in the third quarter.

The Eagles’ offense might have been sluggish lately, but they are still a group with the players to strike often and could rekindle their flame in light of the atmosphere surrounding the matchup. Therefore, the Giants must find the early answers, and their best bet will be to unleash some offense on the passing end against a weaker opposing secondary. 

Philadelphia has some quality rushers up front that will test Jones’ resolve in the pocket, especially with the loss of stud left tackle Andrew Thomas to a season-ending foot injury. Still, their secondary has had a penchant for being loose with their coverage, ranked 19th overall for PFF team coverage grade at 63.1. 

Among their guys with over 100 coverage snaps this season, three of them have coverage grades below 60.0, which puts them at the bottom tier of the league for their position groups. Five have allowed opponent reception percentages above 70 percent on the team’s 141 total targets. That also translates to 1,065 yards (11.9 average) and seven touchdowns, with a whopping 601 yards after the catch. 

The Eagles’ corners allow an average target distance as high as 14.9 yards deep, meaning they like to play their ballhawks a little further back in zone coverage. That presents the Giants’ wide receivers, particularly Malik Nabers, who likely returns this weekend, with a good matchup to establish separation and make designed plays in open space.

When that happens, it could force their defenders into tricky situations that create penalties in favor of New York. The Eagles’ cornerback room is one of the most penalized groups in football, with 10 infractions at the second and third levels that have fueled runs by the opposing offense.

Over the past few years, these teams have taken advantage of the Eagles, whose talent hasn’t taken them to the pinnacle of the postseason enough. The Giants could have their turn on Sunday afternoon. They need to take their shot first and do it repetitively to force Philadelphia to play from behind and into a meltdown.

The Eagles received some bad news earlier this week about an important player on their starting offensive line. 

During their 20-16 win over the Cleveland Browns last Sunday, starting left tackle Jordan Mailata, who has been one of the elite pass blockers in the NFL with a 93 percent win rate, pulled his hamstring while getting tangled up with a linebacker on a downfield block on a run option snap. 

The ailment sidelined the seven-year veteran for the rest of the game, and he was subsequently placed on the injured reserve list on Friday when head coach Nick Sirianni told the media he would be out for at least a few weeks. 

His presence has been valuable to the success of the Eagles’ starting front, helping them hold a sixth-place ranking in team pass block win rate. He has just one sack on his resume. 

Without Mailata, the Eagles will likely run with tackle Fred Johnson at that left spot, given he has experience playing there during his pro stint with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019-20. 

However, his pass protection was incredibly suspect over that time, including two sacks and 18 total pressures allowed this fall, which earned him a horrible 35.8 pass-blocking grade. 

Johnson has only played in 124 offensive snaps for Philadelphia this season, and 110 of them have come on the right side of the line. He has the background for a swing tackle role but could have a bit of a hurdle to get over as he settles into protecting quarterback Jalen Hurts from the left blindside. 

It gives the Giants a matchup to target on the defensive end, and they should challenge Johnson early to slow down their aggressive pass rush. 

Outside linebacker, Brian Burns will likely be the edge rusher lining up in front of Johnson throughout the game, and he will be there at a perfect time as he starts to heat up and storm the pocket. In the last two weeks, he has ranked in the top five of edge defenders in several statistics, notably pressures (11), sacks (2), and stops (7).

In his first six games with New York, Burns has tallied 22 total pressures, the second-most on the Giants’ defense, and notched three sacks and three quarterback hits, which translate into a 7.1 percent pressure rate and 12 percent win rate. 

He has been an instrumental player in each of the Giants’ two wins this year and will need to continue that trend to help them slow down the Eagles’ offense and make life harder for Hurts to navigate.

Going up against a non-battle-tested left tackle could be just the thing Burns needs to have another one of the classic performances that defined his Carolina tenure, and the Giants are paying him big dollars for it. 

If he dominates the left side, it could force the offense to flush to the right, where there are a bevy of other rushers ready to pounce and blow up the play. 

At the same time, the Giants must be careful with how they contain Hurts’ mobility, as he can extend plays to the outside and then take off with his legs and 223-pound frame to evade any weak tackles. It burned them once on the back end with Joe Burrow last Sunday, and they can’t have a repeat of that against Philadelphia. 

For much of his time in New York, Saquon Barkley’s success was hindered by the lack of a solid offensive line providing the big holes for him to run through. He has since gained that in Philadelphia, resulting in a much different story for the former No. 2 pick of the Giants.

While he totaled three seasons of 1,000+ yards and at least six rushing touchdowns with the Giants, Barkley’s abilities were often limited by a feeble front marred by injuries and inexperience. 

He finished his time with the franchise with an average rush below 4.5 yards per carry in four of his last five seasons and was constantly under pressure to be the offense’s No. 1 weapon.

Now, with the Eagles huddle, the Penn State product has seen his numbers soar to a career-high, including a 5.3 average rush to complement a 6.6-yard average catch on the passing side. 

He also plays with a solid group of wide receivers in A.J Brown, DeVonta Smith and company, making it easier to play free and find opportunities within the Philadelphia system. 

Barkley won’t make every play for the Eagles on Sunday, but they will want to find ways to get him the ball more, especially in space, to terrorize the Giants defense and create a flashy homecoming performance. 

The one problem for him should be that several guys on New York’s defense know their former teammate’s game and need to prevent him from making the Eagle’s offense two-dimensional and wreaking havoc on their home turf. It all starts with keeping Barkley in between the tackles, as he can become a dangerous ball carrier outside the zone with his gifted abilities to shift directions and burst through traffic.

This season, Barkley, who already has two 100-yard rushing outings on paper, leads the Eagles with 280 yards after contact with an average of 3.08 yards per play. He has made a mockery of poor tackling that sometimes befalls the Giants, collecting a team-high 16 missed tackles that have turned into ten 10+ yard runs and 179 breakaway yards.

As mentioned, most of this damage originates from outside zone plays, with 55 of his 91 attempts in that run scheme. Four of his last five contests have showcased this style of rushing with at least 41 yards after contact, creating ten 10+yard runs and a long haul of at least 34 yards. 

Shane Bowen’s unit must strive to keep Barkley contained to rushing through the gaps, or it could be a highlight-type afternoon if he can beat you to the edge first. They can’t forget his pass-catching abilities, either. That has been quiet so far, but it adds to his resume with five years of at least 280 yards as a Giant. 

If you can force him into gap rushing, it’ll lead to where the Giants have the sixth-ranked run stop unit that has thwarted opposing ball carriers all season, led by Dexter Lawrence and Rakeem Nuñez-Roches, who are in the team’s top-10 in stops with seven combined and ten sacks. 

That interior pressure might force him to try the back door, but there is when he could run into Brian Burns on the edge, who will have that positive matchup with fill-in left tackle Fred Johnson to crack down and seal the deal. 

It’s certainly not easy, as Barkley is one of the most talented ball carriers in the NFL, but the Giants still know him well, and he’s the last guy they wanted to have a dominant afternoon within their first rivalry matchup. 

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