You want identity? How about this: They ran for 278 yards and Jalen Hurts threw four touchdowns.
Are they a running team? Are they a passing team? Who cares? They’re a 6-2 team.
On Sunday, for the first time this year, we truly saw the explosive offense we’ve been waiting for. It was only the third time since 1950 the Eagles have had 250 rushing yards and four passing touchdowns in the same game.
With an unstoppable offense and a sound defensive effort, the Eagles avenged that terrible loss to the Giants two weeks ago with a 38-20 win at the Linc.
It hasn’t been easy and it hasn’t been pretty, but the Eagles are back on track.
1. It wasn’t about matchups, it was about heart. It was about character. It was about toughness. After that embarrassment in East Rutherford 17 days ago, this one was about playing hard and playing physical and not letting the Giants be the aggressor. It was about playing Philadelphia Eagles football. You knew if they did that, nothing else mattered. Didn’t matter who was hurt. Didn’t matter how many backups played. Didn’t matter whether they ran it or threw it. It was about getting back to playing the way this team was built to play, and 17 days after getting bullied to the tune of 34-17, the Eagles showed what they’re really about Sunday at the Linc. Four numbers tell the story: Last game, the Giants out-rushed the Eagles 172-73. On Sunday the Eagles out-rushed the Giants 261-66. That’s a nearly 300-yard reversal. That’s the story, right there.
2. Tank Bigsby’s 29-yard run on a 2nd-and-26 might be my favorite play of the year. The Eagles, up 24-13 early in the fourth quarter, found themselves in an ugly 2nd-and-26 on their own 40-yard-line after Jalen Hurts took a 16-yard sack on first down. How do you convert a 2nd-and-26? I’ve seen a 4th-and-26 on the same field so it is possible. But with Saquon Barkley on the sideline with a groin injury, Bigsby got the call and twisted his way through traffic – and broke a couple tackles along the way – for a 29-yard gain. The Eagles ultimately scored on that drive but that play was the dagger. That was ballgame. The Giants were already reeling and they weren’t coming back from allowing Bigsby – who had one carry as an Eagle before Sunday – to gash them like that. I love that it was Tank Bigsby – who started the year as a Jaguar – who came up huge in that situation. That says a lot about the depth on this team. After Barkley ran 14 times for 150, Bigsby followed with 104 yards on just nine carries. The Tank Bigsby Game.
3. The Eagles went into this game missing some pretty important pieces – A.J. Brown, Cam Jurgens and Adoree Jackson in addition to Nolan Smith, who’s on Injured Reserve. Got to give a lot of credit in particular to Kelee Ringo and Brett Toth, who would not have been playing if the Eagles were at full strength. Ringo, starting in place of Jackson, did not allow a single catch, according to the Pro Football Focus numbers, and Toth, starting in place of Jurgens, really hung in there and played probably his best football ever in an emergency start. Toth had pivotal blocks on both the 79-yard Hurts-to-Smith TD last week and Barkley’s 65-yard TD run this week. Throw Jahan Dotson, with that 40-yard TD, and Bigsby, with over 100 yards, to that equation as well. You have to love seeing the backups come up huge like this.
4. Welcome to the Dallas Goedert Appreciation Observation! Goedert’s two touchdown catches extended his career-high to seven, all in the last six games. In Eagles history, only Terrell Owens and Harold Carmichael have caught more passes in a six-game span. Goedert has never had more than five TDs in a season before and that was back in 2019. Dude has everything you need to be a weapon in the red zone – toughness, hands, size, a feel for space. With A.J. Brown out, the Eagles needed more than just DeVonta Smith to catch passes, and even though Goedert didn’t put up huge numbers Sunday, three catches for 28 yards and two TDs was huge. And he’s still one of the better blocking tight ends in football and always has a big hand in it when the Eagles run the ball like this. A healthy Goedert is a winning player.
More coming …