Giants dominated by Eagles in rematch after Cam Skattebo injury

PHILADELPHIA – The Giants were looking for a sweep, but the Eagles mopped the floor.

Instead of sending any kind of NFC East table-turning message, the Giants lost a piece of their heart and soul when Cam Skattebo suffered a likely season-ending injury within a loss that likely ends any sense of suspense to their season.

An injury-ravaged defense had no answers for Saquon Barkley (two touchdowns) or Jalen Hurts (four passing touchdowns) and the Giants fell, 38-20, to the Eagles. The Giants failed in their bid to sweep the season series for the first time since 2007.

Jaxson Dart willed the undermanned Giants to stay competitive deep into the third quarter, dropping a 28-yard pass in the bucket for third-string running back Devin Singletary to convert a third-and-7 into the red zone. That was the Giants’ chance to cut into a 24-10 deficit, but two incompletions and a sack forced a 34-yard field goal and made a minimal dent.

Want more? Trailing 31-13 and taking hit after hit on telegraphed passes, Dart rose to his feet to throw an in-stride 68-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-11.

Or so it seemed.

Darius Slayton was flagged for a controversial offensive pass interference – he extended his arm against Quinyon Mitchell as both players jostled with the ball in the air – to replace the not-out-of-it-yet touchdown with a punt.  

The Giants trailed by as many as 25 points before Dart, who was sacked five times, rushed for a one-yard touchdown. Dart threw for 193 yards and had a fumble overturned by replay.

Sixteen days after he was held to 58 yards rushing by his former teammates in a loss, Barkley wasted no time letting it be known that the rematch would be different. He ran for a 65-yard touchdown on his first touch – Darius Muasau and Rakeem Nunez-Roches were cleared out of the hole and safety Tyler Nubin looked stuck in cinder blocks – and the second offensive snap for the Eagles.

Barkley’s second touchdown came after the Giants were on the wrong end of a bang-bang call in a 7-7 game.

Hurts converted a fourth-and-inches via the Tush Push, but Kayvon Thibodeaux ripped the ball away before Hurts was down in the pileup. Officials ruled that Hurts’ forward progress was stopped, which made the play unreviewable.

A heated Daboll threw the challenge flag anyway and had the spot of the ball reviewed. The first down was upheld, and Hurts then dumped off a go-ahead 9-yard touchdown pass to Barkley, who leaked out of the backfield uncovered against a blitz.

Disaster struck the Giants with 8:11 remaining in the second quarter.

Skattebo suffered a dislocated right ankle when he was brought down by Zack Baun on an incompletion. Giants teammates immediately dropped to a knee and turned away from the gruesome sight of Skattebo’s foot turned in the wrong direction.

Skattebo, who earlier scored his team-leading seventh touchdown of the season on an 18-yard pass from Dart, was cheered in support by the notoriously hostile Eagles fans in a show of respect. He waved in appreciation as he rode off the cart, after a head-bump from Dart and well wishes from his replacement Tyrone Tracy Jr.

Hurts threw three touchdown passes in the final 31 minutes, including two to Dallas Goedert and one to Jahan Dotson when he climbed the back of the recently re-acquired Korie Black.

The Giants played the entire second half without 60 percent of their ideal secondary: Cor’Dale Flott (concussion) was sidelined after Jevon Holland and Paulson Adebo did not make the trip because of knee injuries.