You have to beat up on bad teams. The last two Eagles Super Bowl teams made quick work of lesser opponents with constant thrashings. It's why there was dissatisfaction, and dare I say indifference, following the Eagles "only" winning by four points against Cleveland last week.
The Eagles had not won a game by more than a single score in nearly a year. Facing the Giants, a team they've perennially gotten the best of for two-plus decades, was a recipe for quelling some (but certainly not all) of Eagles fans' concerns seven weeks into the season.
The Eagles were merely 3.5-point favorites on the road, but they did in fact beat up on a bad Giants squad in a 28-3 victory in the Meadowlands. A blowout was massively overdue for a roster this talented. It was frankly refreshing to watch. There will be no "a win is a win" discourse this week, as the Eagles put it all together in convincing fashion.
Here are some choice cuts and observations on the day...
• Given the Phillies' latest playoff flameout, no Philadelphia athlete has been a bigger home run hitter this October than Saquon Barkley. In a revenge game on the road against his former team, Barkley ripped off 176 yards on the ground on a whopping 10.4 yards per carry. That figure includes huge runs of 55, 38 and 41 yards, all of which set up touchdown drives.
• A.J. Brown is so dominant. The Eagles were 1-2 during Brown's injury absence earlier this season. They are 3-0 when he's seen the field. He's put up receiving yard totals of 116, 119 and 89 in those games, respectively, reaching the end zone in all of them. When Brown's been out there, he truly has rivaled Justin Jefferson for the best receiver in the NFL and the most transformative for their team's offense.
• Was this Jalen Hurts' best throw of the season?
On a fourth and three, Hurts finds Brown in one-on-one coverage for a 41-yard touchdown. His play had been uneven this season, on Sunday itself too, but that was exactly the type of connection the Eagles rode to the Super Bowl in 2022.
Hurts had an efficient outing last week against Cleveland, averaging 10.6 yards per throw, and it feels like the quarterback could be building some momentum. He still takes far too many sacks with some questionable pocket presence moments, though, for Sunday at least, that can be partly footed upon the team missing star left tackle Jordan Mailata and starting right guard Mekhi Becton. The quarterback added two Tush Push TDs for good measure as well. Relative to some of his play in 2024, Sunday was a stock-up day for the QB.
• The Eagles' offensive stars get the attention, but how about Vic Fangio's defense? The Birds' D allowed just nine points in a win over Cleveland last week. New York put up three points on the board in the Meadowlands. Both the Browns and the Giants have atrocious offenses, but this is what good teams are supposed to do: bury bad teams and have complete control over the game.
The pass rush clobbered Daniel Jones to the point that when the game was no longer in doubt in the fourth quarter, New York pulled their inept "franchise" quarterback and let Drew Lock run the show. The Eagles recorded eight sacks. Jalen Carter and Nakobe Dean each totaled two while Nolan Smith had one as the Eagles look for positive returns on their Georgia investments. Bryce Huff had his first solo sack of his Eagles career. Josh Sweat recorded one. Third-round rookie Jalyx Hunt had a sack and a forced fumble late as well to add to the party.
Fangio is starting to make the most of the pieces on this defense. Huff is showing signs of life. Dean has limitations, but is an excellent blitzer, as Fangio is getting increasingly aggressive. Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean continue to come along as key rookie cogs.
• Darius Slay had a great play on third and three on the Giants' first drive of the second half to force an incompletion underneath and an ensuing punt. Slay was banged up injury-wise last week and that continued into this game, but he came to play regardless.
• Count me among Nick Sirianni's detractors this season, but his confidence in his offense was rewarded with two fourth-down touchdowns: that beauty of a throw from Hurts to Brown and then a Hurts Tush Push TD later on. Sirianni's future in Philadelphia will be defined by how far the Eagles go this season (duh) and things may already be too stale, but it could always be worse. On the opposite sideline, 2022 NFL Coach of the Year Brian Daboll punted on a fourth and three at the Eagles' 45-yard line at one point.
• To close on a more esoteric note, if the Eagles are going to go with their white jersey/black pants uniform combination, they should really use their black helmets, too, like they did in their season opener against Green Bay.
Follow Shamus & PhillyVoice: @shamus_clancy | @thePhillyVoice