6 Eagles Who Need To Have Big Games Vs The Giants

• Fred Johnson

  Jordan Mailata is out for a couple of weeks. We don’t have a full timetable yet, or even a full idea of how bad his injury is, but Nick Sirianni did tell us that Mailata will miss a couple of weeks. So in comes Fred Johnson. He has actually gotten a decent chunk of playing time this year already filling in for Lane Johnson who missed parts of 2 games with a concussion. Now he will move over to the left side and fill in for Mailata.

  The Giants are down 1 of their key pass rushers inKayvon Thibodeaux, but they still have Brian Burns. Burns has 3 sacks so far on the season, with all 3 coming in the past 4 weeks. Last week’s Bengals game was his best one yet, with a sack, 8 tackles, and 2.5 Stuffs. You can imagine they will try to get him matched up with Fred Johnson. It is crucial for both the pass game and the run game, that Johnson keeps Burns somewhat contained. No one is expecting him to be as great as Mailata has been. But they do need him to at least be decent.

  Fred Johnson is a great story, and he has the chance to make it even better if he can keep the ship steady these next few weeks without Mailata.

  NBC Sports Philadelphia on X (formerly Twitter): ""I was on my way out the league" - Eagles tackle Fred Johnson opens up about his appreciation for offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland.The 6-foot-7 offensive lineman credits Stout with helping him land a spot on the Birds' initial 53-man roster. pic.twitter.com/fQ6O0ItnbT / X"

  "I was on my way out the league" - Eagles tackle Fred Johnson opens up about his appreciation for offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland.The 6-foot-7 offensive lineman credits Stout with helping him land a spot on the Birds' initial 53-man roster. pic.twitter.com/fQ6O0ItnbT

• Jalen Hurts

  This one is obvious, but also needs to be said. Hurts has not quite looked like a top-end Franchise QB this season. There have been too many mistakes and not enough production. That said, turnovers aside, he has perhaps been better than the numbers show. Not great, and not up to the standard he should be held to, but outside the 1 or 2 mistakes he made per game, he has done some good things.

  But going into game 6, he needs to finally show why they paid him the big bucks. They need 2022 Hurts to show up vs the Giants. Last week was a nice step. He had no turnovers and made some nice throws. But if he is going to be the franchise QB, he needs to play like it. This is the week to do that. More throws like this.

  NFL on X (formerly Twitter): "AJ BROWN IS BACK.📺: #CLEvsPHI on FOX📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/U1QF0FGRjI / X"

  AJ BROWN IS BACK.📺: #CLEvsPHI on FOX📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/U1QF0FGRjI

• Saquon Barkley

  Saquon had his first bad game in an Eagles jersey last week. Not only was he not productive, but he made two key mistakes that nearly changed the game. First, he ran out of bounds before getting a first down, forcing a 3rd and 1. The next play, he missed the blitz pickup, Hurts got sacked, and they had to settle for a long Fg. That FG got blocked and returned for a TD. He has been great this season so far, but he was flat-out bad vs the Browns.

  But you imagine he will have extra motivation this week. Going back to Met Life to take on the team that didn’t want him, should be the kick he needs to bounce back from that bad game.

  

• Grant Calcaterra

  We mentioned Fred Johnson filling in, but he is not the only guy doing that this week. Dallas Goedert is also injured, and will likely miss a game or 2. In comes Grant Calcaterra. He had the best game of his career on Sunday replacing Goedert. Which is big, because in the last two years, you got nothing out of the TEs when Goedert went out. Calcaterra was part of that nothing, so to see him step up is important.

  The blocking is an issue. Not due to a lack of effort by him, he just is not naturally a good blocker. Maybe that had something to do with Saquon struggling. But he carried his part on the pass-catching side, having multiple explosive plays. With Goedert out, they need more of that to take some pressure off AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith.

  Philadelphia Eagles on X (formerly Twitter): "Grant Calcaterra appreciation post pic.twitter.com/nRcqOItPS3 / X"

  Grant Calcaterra appreciation post pic.twitter.com/nRcqOItPS3

• AJ Brown and Devonta Smith

  These two can go here every week. But the good thing is we never need to worry about them. They always show up. AJ Brown came back and immediately made multiple big plays, including a TD. DeVonta Smith got fewer chances but made the most of them with a long catch and run for a TD.

  What we just need to see more of is from the coaches and how they use them. That Devonta Smith TD was the perfect TD. They schemed him open, got him the ball in space, and let him run. In past seasons, and in the first few games this year, they relied too much on these guys winning 1 on 1 battle. They can do that. But they shouldn’t have to every single play.

  Other teams find ways to get their guys open. The Eagles need to do the same thing. As great as these two are, they can be even better if the team makes it easier for them.

  B/R Gridiron on X (formerly Twitter): "Welcome back Devonta Smith 🤝(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/Lgr7bPdieC / X"

  Welcome back Devonta Smith 🤝(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/Lgr7bPdieC