That was a professional, important, great win by what is very clearly a great team.
The Eagles went into a cold, cloudy MetLife stadium on Sunday and beat the Giants 48-14, having control of the game pretty much the entire time and never giving the home team much hope they would be able to pull off an upset.
There were plenty of standout performances, starting with Jalen Hurts, who improved his chances of winning MVP with some outstanding accuracy and special plays on the ground. Receiver AJ Brown and Miles Sanders also had strong games, both passing 1,000 yards on the season (Brown receiving, Sanders rushing).
The win moved the Eagles to 12-1 and one step closer to clinching the No. 1 seed in the NFC, which would give them home field advantage throughout the playoffs up until the Super Bowl — a game it seems more-and-more likely they will be playing in.
There will be plenty to talk about from this one, but for now, here are some thoughts from throughout the game:
4th Quarter: Eagles 48, Giants 14
By the time Miles Sanders ran 40-yards almost untouched for a touchdown towards the end of the fourth quarter what was obvious all game became even more clear -- the difference in talent between the two teams on Sunday was huge.
The Giants deserve some credit for winning 7 games already this year, but their roster is terrible on both sides of the ball. The Eagles went into the game with the advantage at every position, and to their credit, they played like it. Despite being 12-1 they are still a relatively young team at key spots, so going into the home stadium of a divisional opponent and winning easily should not be taken for granted.
That game won’t help them in the power rankings, but it is one that great teams win — they went in, dominated and simply took care of business.
3rd Quarter: Eagles 34, Giants 14
The Giants had their first legit drive of the game on offense in the third quarter, when on their first possession of the second half they went 75 yards on 11 plays to pull within 27-14. The pass rush was not great on the drive, but the Giants mostly dinked-and-dunked their way down the field, adding in some short runs as well.
The Eagles made sure the Giants’ momentum was short lived, as on the next possession they went right down the field for a touchdown of their own. Hurts’ legs carried the team into the end zone, as he ran on back-to-back plays to end the drive, totaling 21 yards while going almost untouched. The score gave the Eagles a 34-14 lead.
2nd Quarter: Eagles 24, Giants 7
The Eagles made of the craziest plays of the season to start the fourth quarter, going for it on 4th-and-7 from the Giants’ 41-yard line. Hurts stood in the pocket and got drilled as he sent it deep for DeVonta Smith, who caught it between two defenders and ran it in for a touchdown. The play was a bad one for Giants safety Julian Love, who misplayed the ball, but it was still an elite play from both Hurts and Smith. The touchdown gave the Eagles a 14-0 lead.
After the Eagles defense forced a punt, and a weird drop kick by the Giants, the Eagles scored on the very next play when Hurts found AJ Brown from 33-yards out for a 21-0 lead. Hurts looked like the perfect quarterback to start the game. Perfect accuracy, great decision making, big plays on big downs and a huge threat to run when needed.
The Eagles defense did suffer a potentially serious injury in the second quarter when safety Reed Blankenship had to be carted into the locker room with a knee injury. The injury left the Eagles very thin at safety during the game and will likely require a roster move this week.
The Giants got some life towards the end of the second quarter when the Eagles had a punt blocked from their own end zone. Not only did punter Arryn Siposs suffer an ankle injury on the play, which required him to be carted into the locker room, but the Giants scored three plays later to cut the lead to 21-7. With Siposs out the punter was Jake Elliott and the holder on field goals was Britain Covey.
1st Quarter: Eagles 7, Giants 0
The Eagles offense was clinical on their first possession of the game, going right down the field in 14 plays for an 84-yard drive that saw seven different players catch a pass. The Eagles’ ability to spread it around was impressive and a sign of just how deep their offensive skill group is. Hurts did an excellent job taking what the defense gave him, finishing the drive 9/10 for 64 yards and completed passes to 8 receivers in the first quarter.
The drive was capped off by a Miles Sanders touchdown, giving him his 10th on the season and making him the first Eagles running back since LeSean McCoy in 2011.
On defense, Haason Reddick got a sack on the opening drive of the game, giving him 10 on the season, and making him the first player in NFL history to get 10+ sacks in three-straight season with three different teams. Sweat also got a sack on the drive, giving him 7.5 on the season and 25 for his career. For all of the criticism that Howie Roseman’s draft record gets, Sweat has proven to be a huge steal in the fourth round.
You can follow Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!