Posted on October 12, 2018, by Travis Pulver
The Philadelphia Eagles have been struggling to get everyone working on the same page this season. But against the New York Giants on Thursday Night Football, you would have never guessed they were a 2-3 team heading into the game.
Yes, it looked that easy for them against the Giants.
Via @ESPNStatsInfo
An early interception off Eli Manning led to a quick 7-0 lead for the Eagles who never really looked back. They extended the lead to 14-3 by the end of the quarter. By the time the first half was over, they were in control of the game with a comfortable 24-6 advantage.
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They let off the gas in the second half and cruised to a 34-13 win. Carson Wentz had this to say about the win after the game:
“It’s a big win for us. NFC East and the conference. It’s huge. Being 3-3 is better than 2-4. This is more like who we are. We can build from this.”
Eli Manning’s critics are likely going to pounce on the opportunity to say it is time for the Eli Era to come to an end again. He was just 24-43 on the night for 281 yards and an interception. The Eagles made a point to get after him during the game, and the pressure did seem to have an impact on his game.
The Eagles recorded for sacks and 13 QB hits during the game.
“We want to get after the passer every week,” Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said after the game. “These games are battles. It all comes down to which team gets after the passer. We hit Eli and put him on the ground. That was big.”
It wasn’t all bad for the Giants, though. Saquon Barkley continued to show why the Giants selected him with the No. 2 pick in the draft. He had a handful of big gains in the running and passing game. For the night he had 229 all-purpose yards (130 rushing and 99 receiving) and a rushing touchdown.
After the game, Barkley had this to say about his performance:
“How do I feel about my performance tonight? Doesn’t matter to me. We didn’t win.”
Despite the way Barkley is playing, many are going to continue to question the Giants for selecting him and not Manning’s replacement. But chances are, with how the team is playing, they are going to be in a great position to pick someone up in the draft next year.
Whoever it is will have a talented but volatile receiver to work with in Odell Beckham Jr. Rather than calm down and take a step back after his latest drama, he ramped it up a notch. During the second half, he went into a rant on the sideline that included headbutting one of the giant cooling fans. Barkley ended up calming him down.
He also left the sideline early in the first half. But that was so he could get treatment for cramps.
The Eagles will have a more challenging opponent their next time out with the Carolina Panthers coming to town. The Giants will face another team with a solid offense (but weak defense) in the Atlanta Falcons.