The boos at the start were loud. The fans have spoken and they are not welcoming back Saquon Barkley.
The jeers after that were even louder and directed not at the former Giants running back but at his own team, his own shabby, downtrodden offense and his own slack midfielder. The fans have spoken. He had seen enough of this nonsense.
Once again, the Giants save the worst for their paying customers. His defense came out strong and spirited, but that was all there was to it. Daniel Jones was swamped from start to finish at another MetLife Stadium unproductive, inflexible and incompetent, which saw him benched. Barkley as the opponent has been a grand old time out there, churning and burning for 176 meters (only 17 rushing attempts) and one touchdown. As usual, the Giants took a dive against the Eagles, losing 28-3 to continue their descent into the depths of the NFC East.
It was so bad that Jones, with 11:26 left, was replaced by backup Drew Lock. Jones completed 14 of 21 passes for 99 yards and was on fire, getting sacked seven times behind a shaky offensive line playing his first game this season without left tackle Andrew Thomas, who was on injured reserve after foot surgery.
Jones has now failed to throw a touchdown pass in six consecutive home games and the Giants have a total of 10 points in the past two games. He was sent to the sideline by head coach Brian Daboll on the same day Barkley returned to the torch of the team erstwhile some sad Giants symmetry.
The return of rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers, who missed the past two games in concussion protocol, did little to enliven the offense. Nabers caught four passes for 41 yards. He can’t throw himself.
Barkley got the last laugh on this one. He wants to remain a Giant for Life but the franchise that selected him 2nd overall in 2018 is not comfortable with his contract ideas. He said last week that he didn’t expect to be booed, either wishful thinking or a case of dishonesty. Either way, he is a marked man. The Giants had him bottled up – 17 yards on his first seven rushing attempts – before he did what he often does – exploded.
Barkley early in the second quarter raced down the left sideline for 55 yards, with Deonte Banks pushing him out of bounds for a save. Backup Kenneth Gainwell got the ball on the next two plays but nobody but Barkley was able to put it in the end zone. Barkley did so with a 3-yard run to put the Eagles up 7-0.
Barkley added a 41-yard jaunt in the third quarter and helped Jalen Hurts into the end zone with a Tush Push to make it 28-3 early in the fourth quarter. He had to trade green for blue to have fun in this Jersey Turnpike affair.
The beating continues for the Giants (2-5) and so do the beatdowns. They have now lost six of the last seven games in this one-sided rivalry and the inequality runs deeper: 14 losses in the last 17 games and 28 losses in the last 34 games.
The Giants are now 0-3 in the division and 0-4 at home.
Hurts in the second quarter hit AJ Brown for a 41-yard touchdown – Brown got a step on cornerback Nick McCloud – that made it 14-0. The closest the Giants came was Jones’ 14-yard strike to Theo Johnson in the end zone. The rookie tight end was called for offensive pass interference, and the Giants completed Greg Joseph’s 38-yard field goal to keep it out of the first half.
The decision to insert third-year Josh Ezeudu as the starting left tackle to replace Thomas proved unsatisfactory. Ezeudu gave up two first quarter sacks. In the first, Josh Sweat beat him cleanly and Sweat was unfazed by a chip block attempt by Daniel Bellinger. On second down, Nolan Smith rushed to drop Jones for an 11-yard loss.
The Giants have the option to move Jermaine Eluemunor to left and select 2022 first-round pick Evan Neal to right, but the coaching staff has faith in Ezeudu, who failed last season in a lefty tryout.
The Eagles came into the game with 11 sacks in the first five games, but they beat the Giants up front with the easiest showing all season for the offensive line.
On defense, the Giants were able to get closer to Hurts, sacking him four times in the first half. Gradually, Barkley wore down the team’s defense he was used to playing and the Eagles easily did what they were used to doing against the teams they owned.
