New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles: Stats That Defined the 28-3 Loss

The New York Giants got pummeled by Saquon Barkley and the Eagles in Week 7 and these numbers helped paint the picture of an embarrassing loss.

Oct 20, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) sacked by Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean (17) during the second half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images / Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

“Outcoached” and “outplayed”.

Those were two of head coach Brian Daboll’s first words as he took the postgame podium on Sunday after the New York Giants 28-3 home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium, with no other words better suited to define what was another embarrassing performance for the franchise.

Coming off a nearly nonexistent offensive display against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6, the Giants' offense took a deeper nosedive against a suspect Eagles' defense. 

The unit, clearly hampered by the loss of left tackle Andrew Thomas on the offensive line, could not get anything going to threaten the birds. They posted 11 possessions of less than six plays and just a lone field goal to push their total to a miserable 16 points on home soil this season.

The lack of offensive production was made bleaker by the Giants finishing six drives with two yards or less in the contest. 

The impact of poor blocking made it impossible to establish any sort of positive run game behind Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary. It was accompanied by an array of drops by the receiving corps, now totaling 17 on the year to put the team in second place in the NFL for that statistic. 

For another week, New York’s defense showed up and pressured quarterback Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia huddle early, but that factor would fade as the game got out of hand. 

Shane Bowen’s crew got to the gunslinger five times for a loss of 44 yards and held him to 10 completions for 114 yards but gave up a whopping 269 yards on the ground to four Eagles rushers, including two scores by Hurts, which helped them eat up the clock and put the game out of reach before the fourth quarter.

It was a complete pummeling at the hands of their NFC East rival, and the Giants now fall to 2-5 on the season and 0-3 in the division that appears to be several notches above their weight class still. 

The entire offense continues to regress behind Daboll's play calling, holding just one touchdown in East Rutherford and 10 through seven weeks with an average of 14.1 points, 1.5 points below last season’s dismal average of 15.6. 

All of that mediocrity still doesn’t fully paint the whole picture of a nightmarish afternoon for the Giants as their 2024 campaign begins to dissolve into obscurity, with several questions surrounding the roster's future. There are more difficult statistics to digest, and these were the five that stood out in New York’s landslide defeat in Week 7.

8

Through the first six weeks of the season, the New York Giants were putting forth some of their best pass protection for quarterback Daniel Jones in his career, but one injury to their stalwart left tackle seemed to send everything back in the wrong direction. 

With Andrew Thomas designated to the sidelines for the rest of the year with a surgically repaired foot, the Giants entered Sunday’s contest with Joshua Ezeudu chosen to step into his place at the starting left tackle spot.

 It was the third-year player’s first major reps since Week 5 of last season when he appeared in 266 snaps at left tackle amid a carousel of injuries for the offense front. 

While the move certainly didn’t fare well for Ezeudu, who was pushed back into the pocket all afternoon by several Eagles edge rushers, the loss of Thomas seemed to create a gaping hole in the Giants offensive line’s efficiency. 

Along with the first two tacked under his watch, New York’s front allowed eight total sacks for a loss of 62 yards, which stood for their most quarterback takedowns in 2024. 

From the start of the game, the Eagles defensive line, which ranked 13th in pass rush win rate entering Week 7 took it to the Giants starting five and never let their foot off the gas pedal. 

They started off the sack party with Joshua Sweat bulldozing Ezeudu right back into Jones for a nine-yard loss on 3rd-and-6, stalling the second straight drive in under four plays and 20 yards. 

On the next drive, Ezeudu’s struggles would continue as he got blown around the edge by sophomore linebacker Nolan Smith Jr for an even bigger loss of 11 yards. 

That second sack would join a five-yard false start penalty by linebacker Matthew Adams on the ensuing punt and stunt the Giants offense for their worst drive that spanned three plays and went backward nine yards in two minutes. 

The Eagles’ pass-rushing dominance would tack on another three sacks for 21 yards before the halftime break to give the Giants their worst 30 minutes of blocking this season. On the other side, they would collect three more, including one on backup quarterback Drew Locke, who entered the fourth quarter to relieve Jones of his duties only to go 3-of-8 for 6 yards in his limited reps. 

As for Jones, the onslaught of pressures would almost completely paralyze his ability to dish the pigskin and make reads to find his receivers downfield and attack the Eagles’ average secondary. 

Per PFF, Jones averaged 2.96 seconds to throw the ball under duress and dealt with a 50 percent pressure-to-sack percentage in his weekly workload, finishing as the highest number in his sixth campaign under center.

His final line would read 14 completions on 21 targets for 99 yards and an average of 4.7 yards, the gunslinger’s worst passing line since Week 5 of the 2021 season when he had 98 yards and a 38.5 percent completion percentage against the Dallas Cowboys. 

It also continues a very concerning trend for Jones at home. He now has gone six straight home affairs without tossing an aerial touchdown and maintains his issues creating explosive plays downfield to stimulate any offensive rally. 

Who could find that level of success when you face as much pressure as he did against the Eagles, with the reality of the problem following them into next Monday night and beyond?

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176

There was one thing that Giants owner John Mara did not want to see from his team when they faced off with the Philadelphia Eagles for the first time this season, and that was an all-out revenge game for former running back Saquon Barkley in his return to MetLife Stadium donning the green and white wings. 

Unfortunately, his prognostications with general manager Joe Schoen during Hard Knocks in the offseason would become the Giants’ biggest nightmare as Barkley put on a rushing clinic in front of thousands that made up his old fanbase. 

Despite being showered with boos from his first touch, the former No. 2 pick kept a bullish pace on the ground to throttle New York for a season-high 17 carries for 176 yards and a touchdown that led the Eagles’ rushing department. 

Barkley’s flashy homecoming day would include an average haul of 10.4 yards, good for the third-highest mark of his seven-year career, and 187 yards from scrimmage. He amassed three huge runs of 30+ yards, including a 55-yard haul burst in the first quarter that set up the Eagles first touchdown, and added two catches of 11 yards in the flat to leave with the second-best performance by a player against his old squad since Cedric Benson had 189 yards in 2009. 

To make matters worse, Barkley’s outing would completely beat out the Giants' entire production in 60 minutes of competition. As he powered the Eagles to a 269-yard rushing total that helped them own over 34 minutes in time of possession, it outpaced New York’s 119 yards of total offense for a 57-yard differential by one player alone. 

Things started off a bit slow for Barkley as Philadelphia tried to feed him the ball early and establish a groove in the run game. The Giants defense, led by Dexter Lawrence in the middle, held their former teammate in check for just 19 yards on half a dozen handoffs in the first frame of play and made the birds fight for air yards to advance downfield. 

However, the newly bated enemy of MetLife Stadium would find his first punch on the Eagles’ first drive of the second quarter with the aforementioned 55-yard dash down the left sideline on 2nd-and-10. It would set Philadelphia up at the Giants’ 19-yard line, where three plays later, they made sure their lead back secured his lone score in the endzone to give them a 7-0 advantage. 

On the Eagles’ second drive of the third quarter, Barkley would land his second strike with a 38-yard run on a zone attempt which he took to midfield to catalyze another scoring march for the visitors. 

He very likely could have had his second touchdown in the back corner of the endzone, but Jalen Hurts misjudged his throw and would earn his own score in the next couple plays via the “tush push”.

Barkley added one more humongous carry for 49 yards on the Eagles’ third touchdown drive of the afternoon before he was ultimately pulled from the contest due to the nature of the scoreboard. 

Still, it was exactly the performance he and the Eagles wanted to stick to the Giants organization and their decision to part ways with him in free agency after six seasons together. 

According to ESPN, the Giants entered the contest with the sixth-best run stop defense in the NFL, and had only allowed one 100-hard rusher in a six-game window. That number is bound to take a little hit after the damage accrued by the former Giants hero. 

2.2

The health of the Giants’ passing attack has been one of the biggest question marks this season, and nothing about it has looked any better at home in East Rutherford.

Even when the Giants could make things happen with the football on Sunday, it wasn’t for much. 

The huddle finished the 28-3 loss to the Eagles with an insanely underwhelming 2.2 yards per play that amounted to 119 total yards of offense, the worst offensive output since September 12, 1999 when they had 112 yards against Tampa Bay. 

The air average was even worse, falling as low as 1.2 yards per completion that sits within the doldrums of Giants history. 

Like their recent games against Dallas and Cincinnati, Daniel Jones and company hit constant roadblocks in their efforts to move the football downfield. Most of their woes were the result of immediate pressure from the Eagles’ aggressive pass rush, poor execution on routes, and the ever-present case of the dropsies that has riddled the wide receiver rook this season. 

In the first half, the Eagles were the only team touching the football for most of that span. They limited the Giants offense to six straight drives of six plays or less that only took 3:38 of game clock off the board. It took New York until their seventh and final half possession to go deep into enemy territory, only to notch a field goal for their lone points of the day. 

That same drive was where Jones found most of his lackluster production in the game, connecting with three different receivers for 29 yards in a 39-yard total possession. He added in the remaining 10 yards of his own via his feet, and it capped off a game-high 10-play stint that ended with a 38-yard Greg Joseph field goal to prevent the shutout. 

The Giants did have a chance to cash in six points on the second to last play of the drive when Jones connected with rookie tight end Theo Johnson for a momentary 10-yard touchdown. Johnson would be flagged for offensive pass interference before making the catch up the middle, nullifying his first career score and keeping the score to 14-3 at halftime. 

After the break, nothing changed for the Giants in terms of their response to the Eagles' early blows. The rest of the contest saw them handle the pigskin for 23 more plays and 43 yards of offense to finish off with 1.8 yards per play in the second two frames, only three points, and nine straight quarters of football without a passing touchdown. 

Their leading player in the passing game would be Wan’ Dale Robinson, leading the team by six receptions for 23 yards. Only Malik Nabers had more yards, but Robinson had another game field by the drops, which made it hard for the Giants to gain yards after the catch with his talents in the slot. 

Their longest play of any possession at that time would be 14 yards, which we achieved early by Nabers. Otherwise, it was just a slow day for the Giants offense that moved the ball at a historically minimal rate and still has work to be done to discover how to unveil an explosive element to their operation.

It’s only been five seasons and seven games with Jones as the signal caller and this problem hasn’t been resolved, and it’s limiting his growth and future as the Giants’ starter.

4

After two weeks sidelined with a concussion, the Giants offense was relieved to get rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers back into their huddle for their divisional duel with the Eagles. The one problem was he barely got involved in the contest, even as Philadelphia left him open for opportunities.

In his return from the concussion protocol Sunday, Nabers finished as the Giants’ most productive receiver with four catches for 41 yards and an average catch of 10.4 yards. It felt like another one of those games brewing for the No. 6 pick, who was targeted from the first drive and eight times in total, except after the first catch, he disappeared into oblivion. 

The Giants started the game with the ball after Philadelphia deferred their turn to the second half, and Daniel Jones wasted no time getting to his trusty target. He connected with Nabers on 1st-and-10 on a short route over the middle of the field, which the receiver took for 13 yards to put New York near midfield in under 35 seconds.

Jones would look for Nabers again on the next play, but the ball would land in the dirt, and the Giants would have a three-and-out follow-up snap to spoil their first drive, which was moving well. Their next few possessions were marred by poor blocking and a handful of drops by other receivers like Wan’Dale Robinson and Darius Slayton, leaving Nabers on his island, where he claimed he was open a few times during the postgame. 

On the Giants final drive, Jones would connect with Nabers one more time for a 14-yard gain into deep Eagles territory, the longest offensive play for the home team. The Giants would use that to fuel their drive into field goal range to cut the deficit to 14-3 before the break and then never found Nabers. 

With the rest of their receiving corps struggling to create a consistent impact, Nabers has been one of the Giants’ biggest playmakers and winning draft picks. In his first four games, he led the league with 35 receptions on 52 targets for 386 yards and three touchdowns, the best line made by an NFL rookie in the same span.

He had his best all-around game in Week 3 against the Browns when he notched eight snags for 78 yards and two scores to help the Giants build a first-half lead to defeat a lowly Cleveland team for their first win. He followed it up with a massive 12 catches for 115 and an average of 9.6 yards in Week 4 against the Dallas Cowboys, but New York never found the endzone to lose in primetime. 

Interestingly, the trend of his bigger performances coming on the road matches up with the Giants' lack of offensive success at MetLife Stadium. Nabers is a player who wants to stun the fans at home, and they want to see him make flashy plays as well. 

An outing like this is unacceptable if Nabers is going to be the player the Giants drafted him to be. With his unique skill set, there is a wealth of opportunities to be had, and even he knows it, leaving the brutal loss to Philadelphia.

2

If the Giants were looking for any positive contribution from Sunday’s loss, it was the continued play of defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, who wasted no time adding to what is becoming a historic gap-filling season for the veteran.

Hungry to show up against his friend and former teammate Saquon Barkley, Lawrence brought it to the teeth of the Eagles weakened offensive line early. Dragging blockers back with him and chasing after Hurts all over the pocket, he struck the quarterback twice to secure two more sacks for the defense and added it to a five-tackle afternoon that included two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits. 

The first takedown came on the Eagles’ third possession of the first half with the ball near midfield on 3rd-and-10. Hurts had already been sacked twice by Azeez Ojulari and Brian Burns, who was feasting quickly off the left side without starting left tackle Jordan Mailata, and on that same play, would meet the turf for a third time with Lawrence draped all over him for a big 14-yard loss to sent Philadelphia back to their 35-yard line to punt. 

The second came a few drives later, with the Eagles up 14-0 and looking to pile on the points before halftime, with the ball coming back to them in the third quarter. Lawrence had other ideas, though, dropping Hurts again on 3rd-and-11 to thwart the Philadelphia offense deep in their own territory. This set the Giants up for their lone scoring drive of the entire game, which would ensue off that stop. 

With those two sacks added, it continues to fuel what could be a record-setting campaign for the Giants defensive captain. Six seasons into his tenure with New York, Lawrence has amassed 290 total tackles, 30 sacks, and four forced fumbles. It’s all being paced by a team and NFL leading nine sacks through seven contests, just passing Lions’ Aidan Hutchinson whose season ended due to injury with 7.5 sacks. 

Lawrence has also been bullying opposing offensive linemen regardless of the matchup. His efforts have helped the Giants own a 33 percent run-stop win rate and a sub-50 percent rate against the pass. He stands fourth overall in PFF defensive grades at his positions, including third in total pressures, fifth in stops, and seventh in hurries, and has led the Giants into the best disruptive rate in football at 24.37% on pass plays. 

The unfortunate part is that it means less when the Giants aren’t winning football games and playing complementary football. Lawrence acknowledges that himself but knows his role, and that of his defensive teammates, has been the biggest factor in keeping the Giants in a handful of their contests. 

Such was the case for at least a quarter of the game against Philadelphia when both sides went scoreless in that frame of multiple possessions. As the season wears on, at least the Giants can take solace in having defensive stuff that will be around for a long time and earn the respect of the rest of the league. 

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