The Giants faced the Eagles Thursday night and one team put the hammer down in the second half to come away with a convincing victory. That is a totally predictable sentence with a wholly surprising ending. It was the Giants as the hammer and the Eagles as the nail.
Here are some takeaways from Giants 34, Eagles 17 on a breakthrough night for the home team at MetLife Stadium:
— Oh, that is how it is supposed to look and sound. Night game, wonderful crispness (53 degrees at kickoff) in the air, blue and white lights distributed to the fans illuminating the entire seating bowl. The big-game atmosphere often fades quickly with the Giants. Last season, the Giants were 0-8 at home before finally winning a game in front of their fans. This season, they broke through at home in Week 3 by beating the Chargers. This one felt different, though, because it was the Eagles, it was primetime and it was the Eagles. Early in the fourth quarter, with the Giants ahead 27-17, looking good but certainly not safe, Cor’Dale Flott turned Jalen Hurts’ first interception of the season into a 68-yard return and the Giants took over on the Philly 23-yard line. The building really started to believe then. “Let’s Go Giants’’ chants filled the stadium and if you closed your eyes it sounded like a bygone era. “Home crowd was awesome,’’ head coach Brian Daboll said. “But we got to give ’em a reason to be awesome, too.’’
— Hard feelings? Maybe not. Bruised feelings? Sure, go with that. Turning aside Saquon Barkley time after time and forcing him to leave town on the losing end of a game certainly pleased many people employed by the Giants. That dream scenario did not seem to be in the offing when Barkley on the first play from scrimmage hit a crease and gained 18 yards. That was the longest run of the season for Barkley. He followed that up on the next snap, busting for 11 yards and there was every reason to believe this one might be like last year’s Barkley return, when he ripped off 176 yards on his former team. There is all sorts of talk about the Eagles offense being predictable, based on where Barkley lined up next to Hurts, as they are always in shotgun formation. Did the Giants know what was coming? Barkley ran it nine times after his fast start and gained a total of 27 yards, an average of three yards per attempt. “Last year, do you think we were predictable?’’ Barkley said afterward. “Everybody knew we were going to run the ball. We still got it off. I also think we’ve got to get back to that attitude, the mindset of not really giving a f–k what people are trying to do.’’ This is sweet music in the ears of the Giants.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
