In 2018, Saquon Barkley was drafted second overall by the New York Giants, where he spent six seasons. The Eagles signed Barkley to a three-year contract worth $37.7 million this offseason. The move broke Giants fans' hearts and brought joy to Philly fans. After cheering him on for six seasons, this will be the first time Giants fans will have to watch their beloved former RB go against them. When asked how he thinks the New York home crowd will react to his return to MetLife, Saquon said, “I don’t expect a great reaction. I don’t expect to be booed...” Barkley's last game as a Giant was against the Eagles at Met Life Stadium, where he put up just 46 rush yards on 18 attempts but also had 51 receiving yards.
This is Philadelphia's first divisional game of the year. They currently rank second in the NFC East behind the Washington Commanders, and New York is last in the division at 2-4. The two teams split the series last year, each winning at home.
Game Info
Date: October 20th, 2024
Start Time: 1:00 PM ET
Location: East Rutherford, NJ
Stadium: MetLife Stadium
TV Info: FOX (Chris Myers and Mark Sanchez on the call)
Eagles Uniform Info: Green helmet, white jersey, black pants
Giants Statistical Rankings 2024
Points Per Game: 16.0 (29th)
Points Allowed Per Game: 20.2 (T-9th)
Offensive Yards Per Game: 319.3 (20th)
Passing/Rushing Yards Per Game: 213.5 (18th) | 105.8 (24th)
Defensive Yards Allowed Per Game: 314.0 (10th)
Passing/Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game: 197.7 (12th) | 116.3 (15th)
Third Down Offensive/Defensive Conversion Rate: 36.8% (21st) | 34.3% (11th)
Red Zone Offensive/Defensive Conversion Rate: 44.4% (T-25th) | 41.7% (6th)
Penalties: 30 (T-6th)
Penalty Yardage: 237 (6th)
Players Already Ruled Out
Giants: OT Andrew Thomas, DE Kayvon Thibodeaux
Eagles: OT Jordan Mailata, CB James Bradberry, WR Britain Covey, WR Jacob Harris, S Sydney Brown, WR Ainias Smith
New York Giants
Defense
New York's defense has been solid. Nothing too special, but they get the job done for the most part. Despite giving up the 12th most yards per game, they hold their opponents to under 21 points a game and rank within the top 10 in ppg allowed. That matches up pretty well against Philadelphia, who put up 21 ppg but rank in the top ten in yards per game with 367. Philadelphia will likely drive on the Giants pretty quickly, but if they can force a turnover or hold Philly to three a few times, they could poo their offense a chance. They allow under 200 passing yards per game, but have only one interception on the year, however, opposing QB Jalen Hurts has four interceptions on the year, which id tied for fourth most of any QB. Dexter Lawrence is off to a fantastic start, having seven sacks in just six games, which is tied for the second most in the league. Edge rushers Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux have a combined five sacks and eight TFLs. However, Thibodeaux is currently on IR with a wrist injury and is not expected to return for at least four weeks.
Offense
Daniel Jones ranks 11th in passing yards but has the eighth-worst completion percentage at 62.1%. He's thrown four interceptions and six touchdowns, the same TD/INT as Jalen Hurts. He has been sacked 14 times this year, tied for seventh most in the league. Jones is known to be explosive on his feet at times, some even call him "Vanilla Vick", but this year it hasn't been too impressive. He has the third-most carries on the Giants but averages just 3.6 ypc. New York only has three rushing TDs this year, two coming from the new No. 26 in New York, Devin Singletary. Tyrone Tracy Jr. has the third and is the only Giant to average above four ypc, besides Wan'Dale Robinson, who has 18 yards on two carries.
Malik Nabers returns this week after missing the last two weeks with a concussion. The rookie wide receiver still leads the Giants in receiving yards with 386, 85 more than any other player. He averages 96 yards per game and has half the team's six receiving TDs. Darius Slay is questionable to play, so there's a good chance we see a lot of rookie-on-rookie reps between Nabers and standout corner Quinyon Mitchell, who is allowing a completion percentage of 55% when targeted.
Philadelphia Eagles
Defense
Darius Slay is questionable with a knee injury but was a full participant in practice, so there's a good chance he will play on Sunday. If he does, who should cover Giants WR1 Malik Nabers more? Veteran Darius Slay or rookie Quinyon Mitchell? Based on what we've seen through five games, Mitchell should be guarding opponents WR1's until further notice. He has eight forced incompletions, tied for third-most in the league, and has at least one in each game. He also has jumped multiple routes and has had multiple missed opportunities for INTs, but one is coming soon. Cooper DeJean was impressed in his starting debut with two QB pressures, 0.5 sacks, and six tackles.
Philly's pass rush finally showed up last week, however, every teams pass rush shows up against the Browns who have given up 31 sacks this season. Bryce Huff made his presence felt for the first time last week, and he finally got to the quarterback. There was a lot to build off of, but Philadelphia's defense hasn't been able to play two consistent games in a row for whatever reason, so it's hard to say. The Giants have given up 14 sacks, the same amount as the Birds. Daniel Jones is pressured on 21% of his dropbacks, the 16th most in the league. The Giants' offense is nothing special, but they're not terrible and are definitely better than the Browns in that regard.
Offense
Philadelphia's offense has been prone to slow starts all season, the team is yet to score any points in the first quarter. Last week, Jalen Hurts got his receivers back and had his first turnover-free game. He hasn't thrown in his previous two games played after having one or more in the first three weeks. AJ Brown put up over 100 yards and scored in his return, giving him 235 yards and two TDs in his two games played. Skinny Batman, DeVonta Smith has put up 303 yards and two TDs in his four games. The only players outside of that duo to catch a TD are Paris Campbell and Saquon Barkley.
Barkley had his first off week as an Eagle last week, putting up 47 yards, averaging just 2.6 ypc after averaging over 8.0 ypc the two weeks prior. The Eagles' slow starts have been partly due to their reluctance to establish the run game early. Philly ran a total of 19 plays in the first quarter, and Saquon touched the ball seven times. Three of those touches were on first down, and he got the ball in back-to-back plays only once. Eagles QBs were seen practicing taking snaps from under center in practice, which is one thing many fans thought we'd see more of this year, thanks to the new OC, Kellen Moore. Saquon is facing his old team in his old home stadium and might get the opportunity to get the ball under center, he's poised for a bounce back game.
Betting Info
Points Spread: PHI -3 (-118) | NYG +3 (-102)
Moneyline: PHI (-166) | NYG (+140)
Over/Under: O 42.5 (-112) | U 42.5 (-108)
Lines Via Draft Kings as of October 19th
Prediction
The Eagles are yet to win back-to-back games this season, but that could change this week. New York is 4-15 against Philadelphia in the past decade, with three of those wins coming against Jalen Hurts, who has a 5-3 record against them. New York has a home-field advantage, but Philly has revenge mode Saquon Barkley's advantage. I think the Eagles will win semi-comfortably, and we'll finally start to see some consistency in this team. If you're a gambling man taking PHI -3, PHI Moneyline looks like a good pick. Over 42.5 is a risky line, considering my score prediction has the two teams combining for 44 points, and accounting for the fact that I'm no expert, and my score predictions haven't been excellent this season. I'd play it safe and leave that line alone.
Final Score: Eagles 27, Giants 17
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