5 Numbers That Tell The Story of How The Eagles Beat Up The Giants
Well, that was fun. Despite all the handwringing coming into the game about how the Giants were the hot hand and the Eagles being rusty, it was the Eagles who beat up the Giants. The Eagles came out and dominated from start to finish. They beat them 38-7, to advance to the NFC Championship. How did it all go down? Here are 5 numbers that tell the story of how the Eagles beat up the Giants.
0
Beyond all the scoring, this number may be the one that means the most to the Eagles going forward. Lane Johnson gave up 0 sacks, 0 QB hits, and 0 Qb pressures. He went up against an impressive rookie pass rusher in Kayvon Thibodeaux and dominated. Usually, that would be a given. After all Lane Johnson is the best RT in the NFL, gave up 0 sacks all year, and was named to the First Team All-Pro Team. But given Lane Johnson is playing with a torn abductor, and missed the last two games, there was some reason to be worried.
But Lane Johnson is as tough as they come. He didn’t just battle through the injury, he thrived. The health of Lane is so important for the Eagles going forward. And it looks like he is still ready to play at a very high level. It also should be mentioned that Jason Kelce also put up 0s across the board despite blocking All-Pro DT Dexter Lawrence. in fact the Eagles allowed just one QB pressure all night. You could put a brick wall in front of Jalen Hurts and it might not block as well as the Eagles’ Offensive Line does.
7
Speaking of players who are supposed to be injured, but still played well, what a night from Jalen Hurts. So much for the shoulder bothering him. The final stat line does not look too impressive. But that is only because they were able to stop throwing it in the 2nd quarter. That first-quarter performance was all we needed to see he is back to MVP form. He completed all 7 of his passing attempts in the opening quarter, and two of those went for a TD. He would later add a rushing TD of his own, to finish with 3 touchdowns. I don’t think we need to worry about the shoulder sprain hampering him. He looked as good as ever. Oh, and he is now 15-1 on the season. We are still waiting for that apology Chirs Simms. Admitting you are wrong is not that hard. Most Eagles fans did it for Hurts many weeks ago.
2.75
It was another quiet game for Saqoun Barkley. All we heard all week was that Saqoun was back. And he did dominate in Minnesota. But this Eagles’ defensive line is far better than what he saw vs the Vikings. Outside of the one 39-yard run he broke on their lone TD drive, Barkley was a non-factor. On his other 8 rushes, he gained just 22 yards. That is 2.75 per carry. And he is not the first elite RB this Eagles defense has removed from the game. Since they acquired Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh, they have shut down Jonathan Taylor, Derrick Henry, and Barkley now tice. Good luck trying to run on this team. Your running back is going to get beat up.
16.7
James Bradberry was ready to face his former team. Not only did he pick off Daniel Jones, but he also shut down his man all game. He allowed just 2 catches, for 6 yards. One of those catches would have been for a first down, but a nice hit by Bradberry caused a bobble, and Bradberry took him down before the line to gain. Daniel Jones’ passer rating when throwing toward Bradberry was 16.7. He could have spiked the ball every play, and it would have resulted in a better rating. The second-team All-Pro has been key to the Eagles’ success all year. And in a game that featured both Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat creating havoc all night, Bradberry may have been the Eagles’ best player on defense.
80%
All year the Eagles were impossible to stop in the red zone. And that was certainly the case again last night. They scored a TD on 4 of 5 trips to the red zone (80%). The one they settled for an FG, was at the end of the game when they had already burnt 8 minutes off the clock. Its not like they were going full-throttle to score there. The performance from the offense was near perfect. They were explosive when they had to be. And they were able to get long drives when they needed that. The cliche of the Eagles season has been they can beat you in so many ways. And that was on full display. Once they get in the red zone, they are nearly impossible to stop. Trying to prevent Jalen Hurts from running, while also keeping an eye on the RB, and covering Devonta Smith, AJ Brown, and Dallas Goedert is a tough task. Not many teams have figured out how to do it. And in the red zone, failing to do just one of those 6 things means a TD.
