By: Kylan Watson

After falling to the Denver Broncos last Sunday afternoon the Philadelphia Eagles faced the struggling New York Giants tonight in their first Thursday Night Football Game of the season. The Giants bullied the Eagles in the second half and blew them off the field 34-17, this was the first time in two years that the Eagles have lost back-to-back games.

The Eagles found their offensive rhythm early as they were able to use two big rushing plays from Saquon Barkley to get into scoring range and end that drive with a field goal. However, on the defensive side they struggled with the elusiveness of Jaxson Dart who made Zack Baun miss to score a rushing touchdown to put the Giants ahead in this contest.

That was a theme throughout this game the Eagles struggled to slow down Dart, and he did enough to keep New York’s offense on the field and wear out Philly’s defense. They only were able to get one sack on him in this contest and once again could not get off the field on third down (Giants converted 9/11 third downs in this contest). The defense is missing a bunch of starters who are injured, but you cannot give up 34 points to a struggling team and expect to win a game. Throughout this season Philly’s defensive line has struggled to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Additionally, finding a player who can lock up the second cornerback role next to Quinyon Mitchell is a crucial hole that Howie Roseman needs to fill. That has come back to bite them in two games now.

Vic Fangio now has 10 days to fix his defense and figure out how to get consistent pressure and force turnovers. Philly does need to get healthy on that side of the ball, but the inability to get off the field has been a problem throughout this season.

The Giants offense deserves a lot of credit they were able to take advantage of the Eagles aggressiveness and get 172 yards on the ground and get four rushing touchdowns (Three from Cam Skattebo and one from Dart) in this contest. That was the biggest difference maker in this game the Giants were able to keep their offensive drives alive throughout this game and the Eagles once again were shut out on the offensive side in the second half.

Philly’s offensive unit is the healthiest unit on the team so far and besides being able to execute in the red-zone, they looked unorganized and undisciplined in this contest and throughout this season so far. They were able to mix in some pace in this game, but two turnovers ended two scoring drives for them. This was an embarrassing loss for the Eagles who were punked by the struggling Giants.

The Eagles looked like a team that is exhausted in all phases of the game and they need to find their dominant form once again. This is the second game in a row where they only could manage 17 points in a game. The offense needs to find balance and be less predictable and the defense has to get some pressure. So far they have only lost two games this season, they have to get it together fast in the loaded NFC.

Philly will now prepare to face the Minnesota Vikings next week and they will need to get pressure on Carson Wentz and force him to play a perfect game. In addition, the Vikings defense is a perfect opposing defense for the Eagles offense because they can open up the playbook against them and use more short passes and some run pass option to really open up the offensive scheme for the Eagles. Implementing these things into next week’s game plan should help Philly win their fifth game of the season and find their dominance again.