a cold-blooded homecoming

He got his revenge.

In Saquon Barkley's return to MetLife Stadium, he got the best of the team that drafted him. After Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, and company were able to contain him for the majority of the first quarter, Barkley was finally able to break through.

As an avid Giants fan, I have seen Saquon going into a "different mode" a few times in his career. The two I remember specifically are the game in Washington in 2022 with a playoff spot on the line, and the postseason game in Minnesota. In both of those games he ran with true purpose and a different determination, just go back and watch the tape. I saw that same Saquon yesterday, he treated this game differently, no matter what he said. 

(image via Luke Hales/Getty Images)

Saquon, even with taking the fourth quarter off, ran for 176 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. That marks the second-best rushing day in Barkley's seven-year NFL career.

On the Giants' side, the defense, especially the defensive line, looked dominant again early on but lost momentum because they were on the field for so long. That is because this Daniel Jones-led offense could not get anything going yet again. The run game was stagnant early, with the Eagles' game plan being to force Daniel Jones to make a play. And he did not.

The loss of Andrew Thomas was evident, as Jones was sacked eight times, the most in a game this season. Joshua Ezeudu got the start with Thomas out and struggled to stop any of the Eagle's pass rushers. Although Ezeudu is a versatile offensive lineman, his poor performance should open the door for yet another change in the offensive line. I believe it's time to give Evan Neal another shot. Both he and Jermaine Eluemunor can play either tackle position, so replacing Ezeudu with Neal and going from there seems like the best approach.

Daboll brought in Drew Lock in the fourth quarter benching Daniel Jones, a move he says was because the game was out of reach and that "Daniel will be the quarterback going forward." 

I hate repeating myself in these blogs, but could it be any more evident that this team needs a QB? It is clear to me that Daniel Jones still has trouble reading a defense and can only complete throws to his first read. No matter how good this defense is, the Giants are going to be a bad football team until they don't have a bad quarterback. 

Next week, the Giants will travel to Pittsburgh to take on the 5-2 Steelers....in primetime. :(