Oct 26, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) looks on from the sideline during the fourth quarter against the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher
Well, that was a relief.
Last week, the passing game lifted the Eagles to victory. Sunday, the running backs took up the torch, and they did it in style. The Kelly Green Birds took down the New York Giants 38-20 and improved to 6-2 on the season.
Jalen Hurts threw four touchdowns, and Dallas Goedert pulled in two of them on National Tight Ends Day. Here are a few takeaways from Sunday's win:
Entering Sunday's game, the Eagles' 158 rushing yards in Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys were a season-high.
Their 276 yards against the Giants blew that out of the water.
Saquon Barkley got the party started on the second play of the game:
Allow Saquon Barkley to reintroduce himself😳pic.twitter.com/baVcICXieR
The 65-yard run was Barkley's longest of the season. Prior to that, he hadn't yet had a 20-yard run.
Barkley ended up exiting after tweaking his groin on the last play of the third quarter:
Saquon went to the medical tent after this long run at the end of the 3rd quarter. pic.twitter.com/Ki7HZxQv8t
But in just three quarters, Barkley put up an unreal stat line of 14 carries for 150 yards, averaging 10.7 (!) yards per carry.
After Barkley exited the game, RB2 Tank Bigsby seized the moment. He bested Barkley's mark with 11.6 (!!!) yards per carry, totaling 104 yards on nine carries. His legs simply kept moving, and he simply couldn't be tackled. The man converted on 2nd and 31, for Christ's sake:
Tank Bigsby picks up the first down on 2nd & 31
NYGvsPHI on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/dhfL54Zxoa
Kevin Patullo has clearly figured something out. Finally.
Another much-maligned group had a much-needed revival Sunday. The Birds had only registered eleven sacks through seven games, but they took down Jaxson Dart five times during Sunday's victory.
Five different players got home against Dart. Jalyx Hunt and Jalen Carter both registered their first sacks of the season. Hunt's sack came on a 3rd and 10 from the Eagles' 13-yard line. His pivotal takedown held the Giants to just a field goal and kept the Eagles up by two scores at the end of the third quarter.
Carter leads the Eagles in quarterback hits, but his first sack eluded him until Week 8:
Jalen Carter gets his first sack of the season 😤 pic.twitter.com/mMEuj8fcS5
Moro Ojomo's fourth sack of the season kept him atop the Eagles' sack leaderboard. Zack Baun and Jordan Davis both nabbed their third sacks of the year.
It was certainly refreshing to see the Eagles defense get to the quarterback. The lack of pressure week after week had grown frustrating, leading to Brandon Graham's un-retirement last week.
Graham didn't play a snap Sunday – he's still on the Commisioner Exempt list – but for the first time all season, the Birds' pass rush didn't need the help.
Late in the fourth quarter, the referees penalized Jordan Mailata for an illegal formation. Their explanation was that Mailata was on the line and uncovered. The Eagles' 3rd and 6 turned into 3rd and 11.
They then picked up the flag before the next play, returning the Eagles to 3rd and 6.
Following that bizarre display, FOX Sports play-by-play commentator Kevin Burkhardt summed it up best:
"Gotta be honest, I have no idea what's going on," Burkhardt said.
Both the Eagles and Giants were victims of a generationally bad showing from Brad Rogers and his crew. First, a rogue whistle was blown while Jake Elliott's 58-yard field goal attempt was still spinning in the air:
Jake Elliott's kick doinked off the right upright... but a whistle blew while the ball was in the air.
Should the Eagles have been allowed to re-kick?
(via @NFLonFOX)pic.twitter.com/jNk5yGYmJi
Nick Sirianni was infuriated and arguing that the Eagles should have been granted a re-kick.
Then in the second quarter, the Tush Push was involved in yet another poor display of officiating. Only this time, it wasn't the play's fault:
Jalen Hurts lost the ball on this tush push, but the referees (somehow) ruled that it wasn’t a fumble.
The Eagles scored a touchdown two plays later.
(via @NFLonFOX) pic.twitter.com/RF4vLoEwtR
For some reason, Jalen Hurts reached the football forward while the play was in progress. The Giants clearly knocked the football loose and regained possession, which would've resulted in a fumble recovery. But an early whistle by the referees declared the play over.
The referees claimed that forward progress stopped the play. Giants head coach Brian Daboll was absolutely furious. The refs told Daboll he couldn't challenge forward progress, but he threw the flag anyway, resulting in the Giants losing both their challenge and their timeout.
That call will surely stoke the flames of the anti-Tush Push mob, but the errant whistle was not a result of the Tush Push itself. It was purely bad officiating. The call could have been incorrectly made on a regular quarterback sneak as well.
Simply put, it was a mistake. The referees claimed forward progress to cover up that mistake. But because that mistake happened during the Tush Push, that's all anyone will talk about.
There were so many bad calls during the game (including an Eagles strip sack that was overturned) that it's impossible to list them all, but a shaky pass interference call near the end of the game took the cake:
So much hand-fighting happening I don't know how you call this.
Horrific. pic.twitter.com/QPENStkX6t
Daboll was about two seconds away from having an aneurysm on the sideline.
Brian Daboll just about broke his headset after a pass interference call cost the Giants a touchdown😬
(via @NFLonFOX) pic.twitter.com/pjg5cCWd4q
The officiating was so bad that FOX Sports's postgame crew discussed it for a while following the game. That's how you know it was abhorrent.
Do better, Brad Rogers.
The bye week!
It comes at a great time for the Birds. They have a lot of injuries to heal up, including Barkley's groin, A.J. Brown's hamstring and Cam Jurgens' knee.
Speaking of injuries, watching fellow Arizona State alum Cam Skattebo go down with an ankle injury was deflating. He's been terrific for the Giants this year. Hopefully the electrifying running back will make a full recovery and come back even better next season. The Eagles-Giants rivalry is at its best when there are stars on both teams, and Skattebo is a star.
