Opposition Intell: Giants DC Worried About More Than Saquon Barkley

PHILADELPHIA – The seismic shift in the Eagles-New York Giants rivalry is obvious as the teams prepare to renew hostilities at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

It’s not often that a franchise cornerstone switches locker rooms in the same dvision but that’s what happened in the NFC East when Saquon Barkley migrated 90 minutes when the talent-deficient Giants decided maybe it’s better to fix the foundational stuff before making a running back the headliner.

There have been other significant changes, including coordinator and play-calling shifts from both sides. For the Giants, head coach Brian Daboll has taken over the offensive play calls and defense has migrated from the super-aggressive Wink Martindale to the more situationally-focused Shane Bowen.

Bowen, the former DC in Tennessee, wasn’t with Barkley in New York but it wasn’t hard to prepare for the first tendency of the week which came from outside the building.

It’s Saquon Week up the entire I-95 corridor from the Delaware Valley to North Jersey so Bowen knew what was coming at his weekly press briefing.

“Explosive,” Bowen said of Barkley. “You give him space, he finds it. He’s made teams pay already this season on that. Got the ability to make the home run, hit the home run every time he has the ball in his hands. So, we’ve got to be disciplined.”

According to Bowen you’ve got to get “hats to the party” when dealing with Barkley.

Bowen’s No. 1 concern seemed to be the duel-threat ability of Jalen Hurts, particularly with the pass-rush plan when it comes to discipline.

“That’s a thought always with some of these (mobile) guys. You rush four, there’s usually two gaps open. You rush five, there’s usually one gap open. You rush six, you got them all filled for the most part. So, I mean, that always goes into the thought process a little bit of it. I think.”

Any freelancing could have a significant impact so Bowen has to be sharp with his defensive play-calling.

“Just the coordination, being able to feel off guys, make guys right in their rushes, making sure we’re not just running behind them and opening these big B-gap escape lanes and putting stress on the inside guys to kind of handle two gaps,” Bowen explained. “I think just the coordination, the execution, those guys being ble to play off each other is a big part of it when you’re rushing four.” 

Then there’s the Eagles’ playmakers, a group far deeper than just Barkley.

One break is that tight end Dallas Goedert is expected to be ruled out later on Friday.

“A.J. (Brown) missed that time. He’s back now,” said Bowen. “Obviously, that’s a big part of their offense. He showed up last week against Cleveland. I think (Hurts), the ability to run the football is always there with him. You’ve got to do a good job there. 

“Obviously for us, we’ve struggled with some of these guys running the ball on us. On critical downs and third down, we’re going to have to do a good job trying to keep him in the pocket and hopefully he doesn’t get out and hurt us with his legs in the passing game. But they’re talented.”

Maybe too talented for a Giants team still finding it’s way.

John McMullen’s Prediction: Eagles 23, Giants 20

MORE NFL: The Bloodline That Spans The Eagles-Giants Rivalry