CT’s Top 3 Biggest Storylines For Eagles Vs Giants

The Philadelphia Eagles have their first divisional matchup of the year this weekend, which is wild considering how long this roller coaster start to the season has already felt. They'll head up to MetLife Stadium Sunday to take on the New York Giants, and there is a bit of... dare I say confidence in the birds?

If you agree with what we said on Kincade And Salciunas this morning, I'm glad you're feeling some positivity about the matchup. But do the big storylines back up that feeling? Here are my thoughts:

This is without a doubt the biggest storyline of this week's matchup. Saquon Barkley playing against the Giants, as a division rival, following an offseason where they refused to pay him? Pure cinema. At least, we hope. Will this be a motivational point for the Eagles' RB or an emotional distraction? We'll find out on Sunday.

Nick Sirianni had a rough week at the office. Last weekend's matchup with the Cleveland Browns saw him jaw with fans on the sideline, then apologize, then apologize some more. It was a tantrum that was deemed "embarrassing" by some members of the organization. So, is the much-maligned head coach going to learn from his mistakes? Or will we see more emotionally distracted (that's becoming a theme) Sirianni on Sunday?

Jordan Mailata suffered a leg injury against the Browns, but even if he was healthy for this Sunday, it would be a tall task for the Eagles' offensive line to neutralize a defensive front that had the most sacks in the NFL coming into this week. If there's anything that can wreck the Eagles' offensive game plan, it'll be their pass rush. 

The Eagles sit at 3-2. So on paper, they are in a decent spot. But the nature of that 3-2 start rightfully has people worried about how good this Eagles team actually is. And with the Commanders, and specifically, Jayden Daniels, looking so good out of the gate, the Eagles really need to figure things out fast.

Luckily, they get the Giants this week, who are not a good team. They are currently 2-4, with the wins coming against the Browns and the Seahawks. They are also 29th in points per game, and 20th in yards per game. On paper, they look like an easy opponent. That said, the Browns also looked easy on paper. And while the Eagles beat them, they did not exactly cover themselves in glory while doing so.

Related: Eagles Get The Week 6 Win, But Questions Linger On Offense

This team badly needs a get-right game. Not just a win, but a game where they finally click on all cylinders, and just steamroll a team. They used to do that to the Giants, but last year that was not the case. They squeaked out 1 win and lost the other game.

This offense is too good to be playing like they are. The slow starts, 0 points in the first quarter so far this season, are killing them. They average 21.2 pts per game this season, but if they played like they did the rest of the game in the 1st quarter, that would be 28.3 pts per game. The difference between 18th in the league, and 5th.

But that is not the case, and they are in fact 18th in the league in scoring. The defense, despite some hiccups, has mostly been fine. The roster there is flawed, but they have played well enough to get by, with the Bucs game being the lone exception where the defense struggled.

The offense needs to drive this team though, and right now they are struggling. This needs to be the week they finally have that blowup game where they put up crooked numbers. For that to happen, they need these players to have big games.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.