The Giants' recent struggles continued on Sunday with a 48-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium.
Here are some key takeaways...
- Right from the jump, the Eagles defensive front was all over the Giants, with Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick registering sacks on the first series. The Giants punted on each of their first three drives, with punter Jamie Gillan muffing the snap on his third attempt, leading to an illegal kick and outstanding field position for the Eagles, who had already jumped out to an early 14-0 lead. The Eagles then needed just one play, a 31-yard deep shot to AJ Brown, for a three-TD lead.
- The Giants were missing both Leonard Williams and Adoree’ Jackson on defense, and the shorthanded unit looked outmatched early. The Eagles started 4-of-4 on third down, and when they finally didn’t convert, they went for it on fourth-and-seven, and Jalen Hurts floated one perfectly to DeVonta Smith for a 41-yard touchdown. Julian Love appeared to be in position to make a play, but he tried to wait for the ball to come to him rather than playing Smith, and Smith snatched the ball away from him and strolled into the end zone.
- It was the Giants’ special teams unit that helped them gain some momentum late in the first half. With the Eagles backed up in their own end zone, Elerson Smith got a hand on an Arryn Siposs punt for a block. Siposs picked it up and tried to run for a first, but stepped out of bounds short and was also injured on the play. The Giants capitalized on the short field, with Daniel Jones hitting Isaiah Hodgins for a two-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to 14 points.
- Saquon Barkley was questionable to play due to a neck injury, and while he did make the start, Gary Brightwell and Matt Breida also saw time in the backfield. Barkley started out slow, totaling 20 yards on six carries in the first half.
In the second half, as the score got more out of reach and the weather got worse, Barkley saw less and less time on the field.
- The rain started falling a bit harder in the second half, and the Eagles got things started with a heavy dose of the run game to add another field goal and go up by 20. The Giants answered back, though, with their best drive of the game to that point, an 11-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a Jones QB sneak TD to make it a 27-14 game.
But the story of the day was the Giants not being able to find stops on defense, and the Eagles drove 63 yards in eight plays. The drive was capped by a Hurts 10-yard TD scamper on a designed draw, pushing the lead back to 20 points.
- By midway through the fourth quarter, the Giants were in desperation mode. A costly false start penalty turned a fourth-and-three into a fourth-and-eight, and Jones was hit on his throw, which fell incomplete. The Eagles added yet another touchdown on a 40-yard Miles Sanders run, icing the game and heading fans to the exits.
- With the game out of reach, both teams benched their starters in the final minutes. Jones finished 18-of-27 for 169 yards and a touchdown, while Barkley finished with just 28 yards on nine carries. Giants QBs were sacked seven times. Meanwhile, the Eagles ran for 253 yards as a team.
- The Giants are now 7-5-1 after starting the season 6-1.