Instant Observations from Eagles 38, Giants 20: Saquon Barkley gets back on track against his old team

The Philadelphia Eagles sat at 5-2 heading into their Week 8 game against the New Your Giants at Lincoln Financial Field, but the defending Super Bowl champions had not yet blown out any opponent on the 2025 NFL season. All five of their wins were of the one-score variety. And despite the excellent record, the Eagles had not outgained any of their opponents in a game this season.

Well, that all changed on Sunday against the Giants.

Saquon Barkley (14 carries, 150 yards) hit a 2024-style home run on the second play of the game. Jalen Hurts threw for four touchdowns. And Vic Fangio’s defense got its revenge against Jaxson Dart after a shockingly bad performance a few weeks ago in East Rutherford, as the Eagles beat the Giants 38-20. And they are now headed into their bye week on top of the NFC East with a 6-2 record.

Here is what the PHLY Eagles staff had to say about the game.

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EJ Smith

For the first time this season, the words you’re reading were written midway through the third quarter as the Eagles managed their way to a comfortable win. The 38-20 victory over the New York Giants featured a few more notable firsts for the team headed into the bye week as well: The Eagles outgained their opponent, won by multiple scores, and benefitted from a 100-yard day from Saquon Barkley each for the first time all season.

Offensively, the Eagles were balanced with a discernible identity rooted in under-center formations and play-action shots. Defensively, the reinsertion of Jalen Carter and Quinyon Mitchell proved pivotal for a group that looked more like the bullies than the bullied compared to the team’s embarrassing loss to the Giants at MetLife Stadium two games earlier.

It’s hard to overstate the significance of going into the bye week — and the trade deadline — having corrected course and won two straight rather than having lost three of the last four. The question now becomes: Will Howie Roseman raise the stakes for this year’s team by the next time the group takes the field together?

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Fran Duffy

I said this week that this game was a huge pivot point for the Eagles season, and early returns were positive on a number of fronts. It was good to see this team bounce back with a win after what was, in my ways, an embarrassing defeat at the hands of this same Giants team two weeks ago. Some of my initial takeaways, however?

The opening script, offensively, was as voluminous and multiple as I’ve maybe ever seen with the Eagles. It’s certainly the most fun start to a game in the Nick Sirianni era. There was such a huge variety with a little bit of everything mixed in. With AJ Brown out of the lineup, the Eagles threw the kitchen sink, schematically, at the Giants out of the gate. I loved it.

Defensively, the Eagles were much better against the rookie, Jaxon Dart. Coverage (with a healthy Quinyon Mitchell) was better. The contain up front (with a healthy Jalen Carter) was better. The tackling (with a healthy Nakobe Dean) was better. This was a solid outing from that group.

As always, a lot to break down that I’m excited to see on the tape, but that’s what Monday is for. Don’t miss our film review show at 2:00 on Monday!

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Jamie Lynch

Always a fun way to start a game with a Saquon Barkley 65 yard TD to the house in which Saquon nearly hits 22 MPHs! Clearly the refs hate the Birds with that ridiculous whistle/FG fiasco, I’ll say this about Nick Sirianni. Sometimes when a coach freaks out for the right reasons at the officials, it goes a long way with the team. He reacted like all the players probably wanted to. Nice work Nick.

Eagles got lucky on a Hurts fumble which led to Saquon’s 2nd TD on the day, sometimes it’s great to have luck on your side. Also nice to see Dallas Goeder get his career high 6th TD before half on a nice drive from the Eagles offense. Scoring & moving the ball in many different ways. Dallas Goedert just shattering his career high in TDs this year.

Overall, the Birds got to put their feet up & coast to an enjoyable victory. And unlike two weeks ago, the Giants were not the physical bullies to the Birds that they were previously. A lot to like about today heading into the bye week.

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Rich Hofmann

The Eagles needed one of those. Badly.

From the opening series, when the Eagles went under-center on the second play and Saquon Barkley hit his first home run of the 2025 season, it felt like everything was easier than it has been so far this season. Kevin Patullo was scheming things up, Saquon Barkley was back to terrorizing opposing defenses (a fitting opponent to get back on track against), and the Eagles were off to the races.

The Eagles mixed in some under-center play-action, they ran the RPO game effectively, and Jalen Hurts made more than enough plays in the passing game without the services of A.J. Brown. The defense was unspectacular, but with Quinyon Mitchell back in the fold, the coverage with sticky most of the afternoon against the Giants’ underwhelming skill players.

No, the Giants are not very good. But they also were not very good a few weeks ago when they blew the Birds out on Thursday Night Football. This was the cleanest game of the Eagles season, which will provide some good vibes headed into the bye week. They needed that one.

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Bo Wulf

If the Eagles are at least contemplating the possibility of moving forward without A.J. Brown, they needed to see some evidence their offense wouldn’t look completely lost without the star receiver, as they have when Brown has missed time in the past. They’ll have to take today’s result with a handful of salt given the state of the Giants’ defense, but seeing Jalen Hurts throw the ball with ease in shotgun and under center while the running game finally looked like last year’s version (Tank Bigsby!) will help them feel better about the possibility. If today’s pass rush is anything close to real, Howie Roseman can feel good about the state of the team heading into the bye.