On Friday, the Giants selected former Tennessee WR Jalin Hyatt with the 73rd overall pick(third round). Last season, Hyatt was the 2022 Biletnikoff Award winner and a big-time playmaker, with 67 receptions for 1267 yards and 15 touchdowns.
According to Hyatt, like most wide receivers, he is always open.
“I feel like I’m just dynamic, explosive; I feel like I get open 24/7,” Hyatt said on Friday. “I think that’s what you want in a receiver, and I feel like, really, with those three attributes, I think that’s what separates myself from everybody else.”
Hyatt is slender(6-0, 188 pounds), and we’ve seen slender wide receivers like DeSean Jackson and DeVonta Smith succeed in the NFL, and Hyatt said he studied Smith’s game.
“I was very big on DeVonta Smith with the Eagles,” he said. “I think he has a lot of capabilities that I have. Slim build, long arms, explosive, dynamic, gets open 24/7. He’s consistent in how he catches the ball. He’s a consistent receiver and a guy that makes plays, and that’s what I want to do. That’s what I want to be when I come here.”
According to Hyatt, now that he’s on the Giants team, he will have a hard time loading up the box to stop Saquon Barkley because they will have to account for his speed.
“When you have (Saquon)Barkley in the backfield, and you know, a lot of guys that we have on this team that’s very, very, very good, they can’t really load the box,” he said. “They can’t go down there and just blitz the whole game. They are going to have respect — they are going to have to respect us, and that’s what I’ll bring and add to the table.”
Giants GM Joe Schoen is impressed by Hyatt’s speed.
He can roll,” Schoen said. “I was at that Alabama game. I can’t remember why I came in late, but I was a little bit late. But I was on the field for the first half. I was coming from another game, landed there, and first half I was on the field, and you could really feel his speed. It’s legit 4-3.”
Giants head coach Brian Daboll added on Hyatt: “I think he’s a good player. I think he runs some of the routes that we run here. You can see, a little bit like Gabe, how it might translate. But again, everything is new for him. He’s a young guy. We’ll throw him in the mix with the other receivers and let those guys compete it out. A good visit here. Definitely has some qualities that you like when you’re watching him. Good young man. So, happy we have him.”
Hyatt was expected to go in the first two rounds, but he dropped; however, none of that bothered Hyatt; he’s just happy for the opportunity with New York.
“For me, I’m just blessed for the opportunity to be here,” he said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. I wasn’t worried about if I was sliding up or down or whatever. I just know for me, whatever team drafted me, you know, I knew what I was going to do. I knew what I was going to do. And Giants took me, traded up to get me, and that’s something I’ll never forget, and now it’s time to put in the work.”
The Giants and Daniel Jones needed some wide receiver help, and they might have found that in Hyatt.
After having a breakout season in 2022, the New York Giants awarded quarterback Daniel Jones with a new contract.
On Tuesday, the Giants announced they had signed Jones to a four-year contract.
According to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, the deal is worth $160 million, with $82 million guaranteed at signing. In addition, there is another $35 million available in incentives.
Jones, 25, was scheduled to become a free agent if the two sides did not reach an agreement by Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline. The Giants could have placed the franchise tag on Jones if a deal was not completed.
“I said after the season I love this place,” Jones said via a statement from the team. “I’ve really enjoyed my time here, and I want to be here. I have great respect for this organization, the Maras, the Tisches, my coaches, and teammates. I am happy we were able to come to an agreement.”
The long-term contract allows the Giants to reduce Jones’ cap number in this and subsequent seasons, and Giants GM Joe Schoen is happy that the deal is done.
“We had productive conversations with Daniel and his representatives over the course of the past week or so,” Schoen said. “We are all pleased that we were able to come to an agreement prior to today’s deadline. This gives us a greater ability to continue to build our roster.”
Last season, Jones led the Giants to the playoffs for the first time since 2006, and the team got their first playoff win since 2011.
In his fourth season with the Giants, the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft started a career-high 16 regular-season games.
He completed a Giants-record 67.2% of his passes, finished with 3,205 passing yards and a 92.5 passer rating, both career highs, and led the NFL and set a franchise record by throwing an interception on just 1.1% of his passes (five in 472 throws).
In addition, Jones was second on the team with 708 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, both records for a Giants quarterback. He became the fourth quarterback in NFL history with at least 3,200 passing yards, a 65+ completion percentage, and 700 or more rushing yards in a season.
Barkley gets the tag:
In addition to re-signing Jones, the Giants announced on Monday that they had placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on running back Saquon Barkley.
The two sides have until July 17th to hammer out a long-term deal. If they don’t, Barkley’s salary will be $10 million next season.
Barkley, 26, can look elsewhere, but the Giants can match any offer or let him sign with a another team. If that happens, they will receive two first-round picks.
Last season, Barkley finished with career-high totals of 295 carries for 1,312 yards – the NFL’s fourth-highest total – and scored 10 touchdowns, one less than his rookie total. In addition, the fifth-year back caught 57 passes for 338 yards after he had 41 receptions for 263 yards the previous season. He finished seventh in the NFL with 1,650 scrimmage yards.
On Monday, Giants GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll met the media to put a bow on the team’s successful 2022 season.
This season, New York, who made the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and won a playoff game for the first time since 2011, looks like a team that could be on the rise.
Obviously, the Giants have some questions that they have to answer.
Daniel Jones:
Daniel Jones played well this season and made some strides. In 2022, Jones had a career-high in yards(3,205), rushing yards(708), and rushing touchdowns(7), and he protected the football(five interceptions), but he’s an unrestricted free agent who will definitely get a raise.
Schoen was asked a series of questions by the media related to Jones:
Q: Do you plan on re-signing (quarterback) Daniel (Jones)?
Schoen: “We’d like Daniel to be here. Again, he said it yesterday – there’s a business side to it. We feel like Daniel played well this season. He’s done everything that we’ve asked him to do. Again, there’s a business side to it. We haven’t went down that road yet. We still have to have our meetings with our staff late in the week, and we’ll devise an offseason plan. We haven’t had those meetings yet, but we would like to have Daniel Jones back.”
Q: Having said that, when did you know? You and Dabs came in and had to do your due diligence and see what you had in Daniel (Jones) and everybody else. When did you make the decision, both of you guys, ‘This guy is our guy to move forward with,’?
Schoen: “I don’t know if there was necessarily an ‘Aha’ moment or anything like that. We just continued to evaluate him throughout the season and what the coaches were asking him to do. And he was executing the game plans. Dabs and I communicate on a daily basis – not just Dabs and I, but the offensive staff and what they’re asking him to do. He continued to improve throughout the season. I don’t know the exact date or time when we’re like, ‘Daniel is our guy,’ but we’re pleased with how he played this season.”
Q: When you say you want Daniel (Jones) back, ideally would you like that to be a long-term deal or a multi-year deal?
Schoen: “We’re going to get into all that. Again, it takes two. Both sides have got to have those conversations. We haven’t crossed that bridge yet. There’s tools at our disposal. Again, we’ll go through several scenarios. It’s kind of like I mentioned it last year, maybe it was at the combine, with the ‘if, then’ scenarios. You got to go through all those because you don’t know how things are going to fall because it’s negotiating. This is why you love the draft – you turn in the card, and they’re yours. You know what the contract structure is; you know the years. This is where there’s two parties involved, and it’s going to be time consuming. We’ll get together as a staff. We’ll talk through the different options and have those discussions when it’s appropriate.”
Q: Do you view Daniel (Jones) as a quarterback who can help you win a Super Bowl?
Schoen: We’re happy Daniel’s going to be here. We’re happy he’s going to be here. Hopefully we can get something done with his representatives. And that would be the goal – to build a team around him where he can lead us and win a Super Bowl.
Saquon Barkley:
In addition, Giants running back Saquon Barkley can also be an unrestricted free agent. After two consecutive injury-riddled seasons, Barkley broke out in 2022 as he rushed for a career-high 1312 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Schoen was also asked a series of questions by the media related to Barkley:
Q: Obviously you need a new contract with (running back) Saquon (Barkley). Is that somebody, also, you also would like to keep, and is the franchise tag a possibility?
Schoen: “Again, this is a special team to me. It was my first year. We’d like to have all the guys back, I really would. But there’s a business side to it. There’s rules that you need to operate under in terms of the salary cap. Saquon, he’s a good player. He’s a great teammate. I loved getting to know him this season. He’s a guy we would like to have back. It’s just, again, we haven’t had our end-of-season meetings yet. We’re less than 48 hours after that game. Everybody is going to step back, take the emotion out of it, evaluate the roster and then we’ve got to operate under the salary cap. How are you going to divvy up? How are we going to create the roster? What are the priority positions, and how are we going to move forward? We would like to have Saquon back if it works out.”
Q: With Saquon (Barkley), how do you view running back positional value versus he’s also, other than Daniel (Jones), your best playmaker?
Schoen: “Listen, Saquon has done everything we’ve asked him to do, and he’s a good football player. Again, the positional value – we’ll get into how we want to build this team and allocate our resources. That’s what it comes down to. Again, he’s a good football player. He was durable for us this year; he played well. And again, he’s a guy that we would like to have back.”
Q: On Saquon (Barkley), when you try to determine his financial value – how much do you factor in character and contribution to culture as opposed to talent when it comes to that evaluation?
Schoen: “If that wasn’t important, we probably wouldn’t be approaching him. So, that’s kind of a starter for us – if you’re a good teammate, you’re a culture fit for how we want to do things. That’s where we go to those players. We don’t factor in – when you’re making comps (comparisons), it’s hard to put a value on that. It’s important, but you can look at how many yards, touchdowns, Pro Bowls, games played, games missed. Those are more markers that we can establish value on. We wouldn’t approach him or look to sign a guy if they didn’t fit our culture if we didn’t think so.”
Q: How close were you with him (Saquon Barkley in bye week conversations)? How close were you with him, and did you consider yourself close when you had that conversation?
Schoen: “We had productive conversations. We were off on the value. Again, we said we would circle back up at the end of the season and continue those conversations, but that time of year, we weren’t really that close I would think.”
Reports are leaning toward the Giants bringing back Jones and Barkley. It’s just a matter of how they are going to do it. Not completely sold on Jones being the guy, but if New York can finally build a complete roster around him, then maybe you can win with him. He’s proven that he can win, but can you win big with Jones? Time will be the judge.
The season did not end the way the New York Giants wanted it to, but when they look back on it, they will realize it was a success.
New York’s season ended in Philadelphia on Saturday night as they fell to the Eagles 38-7 in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
The Giants, who lost three times to Philadelphia this season, allowed the Eagles to score four touchdowns on their first five drives and trailed 28-0 at halftime. New York was dominated from start to finish.
“Well, crash landing here,” Daboll said after the loss. “Give Philly credit. They did everything better than we did today—tough game. We really got beat in all facets, so it wasn’t one thing in particular. It was a team game, and we just didn’t get it done. Congratulations to Philly. They get to move on, and unfortunately, we don’t.”
After five straight 10-loss seasons, New York was 9-7-1 this year, made the playoffs for the first time since 2016, and got their playoff win since 2011.
Despite the blowout loss, Daboll wanted his team to keep their heads up.
“I told them to keep their heads up,” he said. “They competed hard. It’s a crash landing in the playoffs. Anytime you lose, it hurts because of the amount of effort and energy you put into it each week. And when you lose this time of year, it hurts even more. You work extremely hard to get to this point. You’re blessed to get to this point. It’s hard to do.”
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, who can be an unrestricted free agent, showed much improvement this season. He became a better player, and he hopes to continue to grow moving forward.
“I don’t know what I proved,” he said. “I think I improved every week. I thought I was consistent throughout the year. There are certainly things I like to have back, especially tonight. I think there are some things I’ll go back and look to clean up and improve and grow as a player going forward. I thought, overall, I did do that. I grew and improved throughout the year, and I will continue to try and do that.”
Saquon Barkley, who also can be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, said the 2022 Giants is a team he won’t forget.
“It sucks, this was a fun team,” he said. “The guys here, coaches, everything that we were able to build this year. The way we played for each other this year, it was special. Obviously, it didn’t end the way we would have wanted it to end. Not just because of the record or because we made it to playoffs, this is probably one of my favorite teams of all time. That’s a sad thing about the NFL; no matter what, the locker room is not going to be the exact same next year. So just happy to be able to go out there with these guys and lay it all out on the line and compete with them.”
The Giants’ season was a success the moment they beat the Colts and clinched a playoff spot; they should hold their heads high. The future seems bright in New York.
When the season started, not many people expected the New York Giants to be two games away from getting to the Super Bowl, but after defeating the Minnesota Vikings on the road in the Wild Card Round last Sunday, the Giants are, in fact, two games away from a Super Bowl.
Defeating the Vikings was challenging, and beating the Eagles, who are the number one seed in the NFC, might be even more difficult as the Giants travel down I-95 to face their division rivals at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday night in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
The Giants were swept in the regular season by the Eagles, including a 26-point loss in Week 14 at MetLife Stadium.
Giants running back Saquon Barkley, who rushed for only 28 yards in that Week 14 blowout, knows that defeating the Eagles won’t be easy.
“Obviously, the first game, they got up right away,” he said Wednesday. “Offensively, I think we did some pretty good stuff, but we could be a little more consistent. At the end of the day, we know they’re a talented team. They have how many pro bowlers? How many all-pros? They’re the number-one team in the NFC for a reason. It’s going to be a tough challenge.”
At this point, according to Barkley, the Giants are a confident bunch.
“Yeah, we’re a very confident team,” Barkley said. “We’ve kind of been that way throughout the whole season. Had our ups and downs, faced adversity, but our mindset has kind of been the same – just continue to come out, go out there with a competitive mindset, believe in each other, and that gives us the best opportunity.”
In 2022, the Giants made the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and won their first playoff game since 2011. As stated numerous times by many, no matter what happens on Saturday night, the Giants’ season is a success. However, Barkley is still hungry for more.
“We’re here for a reason,” Barkley said. “You’ve got to win football games to get into the playoffs. No one is just invited; you’ve got to get in. We got in, to make it to where you want to go – you’ve got to win, or you go home. We did that the first round, and now we’ve got another opportunity in the second round.”
Barkley is a Pennsylvania native, so he knows very well how hostile that Philly crowd will be on Saturday night.
“Their fan base is crazy,” he said. “They’re going to be loud; there’s going to be cheers, there’s going to be boos. There might be some double birds… I expect it to be a hostile environment. It’s the playoffs. That’s how it’s going to be. You know how Philly fans are. Growing up in Pennsylvania, obviously, I wasn’t a Philly fan growing up, but had a lot of Philly fans – I know how passionate they are. It’s going to be fun.”
Talent-wise, it’s not close; the Eagles are the more talented team. However, the Giants play hard and are well-coached, so they have a shot, but they will have to play their best game of the season to do it.
For the first time since 2016, the New York Giants were in the playoffs, and for the first time since 2011, the New York Giants got a playoff win as they defeated the Vikings 31-24 in the Wild Card round of the playoffs on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
With the win, the Giants advance to a divisional round game at Philadelphia next Saturday night.
New York lost to the Vikings on Christmas Eve in Minnesota when kicker Greg Joseph hit a 61-yard field goal at the buzzer, but this game was a different story because of the play of Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.
In his playoff debut, Jones was outstanding. He completed 24 of 35 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns. In addition, he ran for 78 yards(team record for a quarterback in the postseason) on 17 carries. He is the fifth quarterback in the Super Bowl era with 200-plus pass yards, two-plus touchdown passes and 70-plus rushing yards in a playoff game.
After the win, Saquon Barkley, who ran for 53 yards and two touchdowns, including a 28-yard scamper in the first quarter and the game-winning two-yard touchdown run in the fourth, was impressed by Jones.
“I would say I’m impressed,” Barkley said about Jones. “I’m not shocked. He’s been doing it all year. He’s really a special player. You know what a way to start it off. I’m happy for him and proud of him, and we’re going to need him and keep leaning on him.”
Giants head coach Brian Daboll was proud of Jones.
“Daniel, I’ve said it all year; he’s been good for us,” Daboll said. “Continues to be good for us. He played a good game. I think there was a lot of other people that played good games to help him play a good game, and he’ll be the first to admit it. But as a leader on our football team, I’m proud of him.”
Barkley believes the Giants have an elite quarterback.
“I know we have an elite quarterback,” Barkley said. “I think he’s shown that most of the time. But we’ve also got amazing players around, too, so we”ve got his back no matter what.”
The fourth-year quarterback is happy with the win but knows more work needs to be done.
“I think it’s a big win for us,” he said. “Obviously, a big playoff game. I thought we played well in all three phases and did enough to win the game. We’ll enjoy it tonight, but we have a lot of work to do moving forward.”
The Giants were swept by the Eagles this season, including a 48-22 beatdown at MetLife Stadium; Jones is excited to get another crack at Philadelphia.
“We’re excited,” he said. “They’re a good team. A divisional opponent. We’ll prepare this week like we do any week and be as prepared as we can going in.”
The Giants continue to play with house money. No one expected them to win a playoff game when the season started. However, many believed the Vikings were a beatable team in this spot, and New York took advantage of it.
Back to Jones, he was exceptional against Minnesota, but Philly will be a bigger test, and we will see if Jones and the Giants can pass it.
Notes:
-This was the Giants’ first victory this season against a team in the NFC playoff field; they had been 0-6 vs. Dallas, Philadelphia, Seattle and Minnesota.
-The Giants totaled 431 offense yards, a figure they exceeded just twice in the regular season – 445 against the Vikings here on Dec. 24 and 436 yards at Jacksonville on Oct. 23.
-The Giants’ 31 points are their second-highest total of the season and the second time they exceeded 30 points
On Monday night, the NFL world was stunned when, after making a tackle on Bengals WR Tee Higgins, Bills safety Damar Hamlin stood up and collapsed.
According to the Bills, Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest, and his heartbeat was restored on the field. He was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. According to the Bills, Hamlin remains in the ICU in critical condition with signs of improvement.
New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll, who was the offensive coordinator in Buffalo from 2018 up to last season, and spent time with Hamlin, says the past few days have been tough.
“It’s been difficult the last couple days,” Daboll said on Wednesday. “This is a relationship business, and when something like that happens to people that mean a lot to you – or even if you don’t know them, you have just a great amount of respect for (them) – it really doesn’t matter what job you do. But having been around the young man, I know him. I know the type of person he is. Yeah, it’s tough.”
Saquon Barkley, who has a relationship with Hamlin, says what happened to the second-year safety is a mother’s worst nightmare.
“You think about it, you talk about, but when you actually see something like that – it leaves you speechless,” Barkley said. “The first text I got was from my mom. My mom was just saying how bad she feels for Damar’s family. That’s a mother’s; that’s a parent’s worst nightmare. It definitely does put it in perspective. Me having kids seeing that – it’s a physical sport, it’s a game I love to play, but at any given moment, it makes you just appreciate all the little things. Going out to practice, spend time with your family, spend time with your teammates, your friends, and even stuff like this. Any moment, anything can happen.”
Hamlin’s tackle on Higgins was a routine play, which Barkley says often happens in an NFL game.
“It’s tough because it’s a routine play,” he said. “It’s a play that’s happened millions, millions of times. It’s a play that I’ve done millions and thousands of times before. It’s tough. It really is tough. It’s hard to even speak on it. Words can’t really explain how you even feel in that moment. Like I said, I know I sound like a broken record, the only thing you really can do is just pray. Just pray for his family, pray for him, pray for the guys over in Buffalo, all of the people that are impacted by that – even the guys in Cincinnati – and just wish for the best.”
At this point, Barkley’s right, all we can do is pray and wish Hamlin the best.
For the first time since 2016, the New York Giants(9-6-1) are in the playoffs after they routed the Colts(4-11-1) 38-10 at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
With the win, Giants head coach Brian Daboll becomes the fifth coach in team history to lead the team to the playoffs in his debut season.
“I’m just happy we won this game,” Daboll said after the win. “Am I excited? Certainly, I’m excited. But I think you just got to stick with the process that got you here—got to get ready to play another game. You know, the playoffs are a different breed. They’re one and done. But we still got one more game before we get to those.”
Daniel Jones, who completed 19 of 24 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns and led the Giants in rushing with 91 yards, including touchdown runs of 18 and 10 yards on Sunday, is excited to make the playoffs.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s just exciting,’ Jones said. “I think, like I said, we’ve been through some tough times, and to be on this side of it is a lot of fun. A lot of hard work has gone into it from a lot of different people, and like I said, I’m grateful for my teammates, grateful for this organization, and looking forward to a lot of work ahead.”
In the fourth, with New York in complete control, Jones, who led the Giants to a winning season for the first time in his four seasons with the team, was removed from the game and received a standing ovation from the fans, something he appreciated.
“I’m really appreciative, grateful,” he said. “Our fans have been tremendous all year. They supported us today; they came out and brought a lot of energy. The whole game we felt it and fed off it the whole game. Grateful, really appreciative of their support for me personally and for our team.”
Saquon Barkley rushed for 58 yards on Sunday and increased his season total to a career-high 1,312 yards, and like Jones, he is making the playoffs for the first time in his career.
According to Barkley, no one gave New York a chance to make the playoffs.
“Yeah, it’s real special,” Barkley said. “It’s a huge accomplishment. You’ve got to give credit to all the guys—from OTAs, coming in every single day with the right mindset, with the right work ethic. I’ve got to give credit to the coaches. And it’s a beautiful thing. I mean, no one, let’s be honest, no one besides the men and women in that facility gave us a chance to accomplish this, and we just stuck to the script, kept believing in each other, and gave ourselves the opportunity, and we did it.
“But at the end of the day, we’ve still got next week to get ready for, and you want to make it to the playoffs, but it’s not like when you’re making the playoffs, it’s not like you’ve won the Super Bowl. You give yourself a chance to compete for a Super Bowl, so it’s just another step ahead, and we’ve just got to keep working.”
At this point, the Giants’ season is a success. They have little to no shot of making the Super Bowl, but anything is possible. In the end, give credit to Daboll, Jones, and Barkley for helping to make the playoffs a reality in New York!
The Giants, who are locked into the sixth-seed, will play their final regular-season game next weekend against the NFC East-leading Eagles in Philadelphia.
For the New York Giants(7-5-), Sunday’s game against the Eagles(12-!) was an opportunity to see how they stack up against the team with the best record in football. After the Giants’ 48-22 loss to Philadelphia at MetLife Stadium, it’s clear New York has ways to go to compete with the top teams in the NFL
I mean, we got our a** whipped,” Giants running back Saquon Barkley said after the loss. “Point blank. But you can find beauty in everything. I really believe in that, and we’ve got to double down… So, we’ve got a big one next week. Obviously, everyone knows about that, and we’ve just got to come out ready to play.”
Giants head coach Brians Daboll added: “We got beat handily. It was 48 to whatever it was (22). They’re a good football team. Give them a lot of credit. Got to get back to work.”
New York was never in this contest and trailed 21-0 in the first half. Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, who threw 169 yards and a touchdown and ran for another, says New York is not where they want to be just yet.
“Philadelphia is a really good team, and we could see today we aren’t where we need to be yet,” he said. “At the same time, we did some things well we can build off of. We got to come back to work and come back ready to go. I think no one is losing confidence; no one is pointing fingers or anything like that. I think we’re just getting back ready to work and looking forward for this huge opportunity for us against Washington.”
If the season ended today, the Giants, who are 0-3-1 in their last four games, would make the playoffs. However, they have a big game on the road against the Commanders next Sunday night, and a win over Washington, who they played to a tie last week, puts the Giants in a better position to make the playoffs.
According to Barkley, the Giants must get better no matter who they play.
“We’ve got to do the little things better,” he said. “We’ve got to double down on every single thing that if we want to accomplish what we want to accomplish and all of our goals are still in front of us, we’ve just got to come out. It’s a big week. Every week’s a big week, and it’s getting deep in the season, and we’ve got to continue to get healthy, trust the system, trust each other, and the rest will play out how we want it if we do that.”
Look, the 2022 season has been a success for this team. No one expected New York to start the season 6-1 and be 7-2 after nine games, and probably not many had them 7-5-1 after 13 games, so they have exceeded expectations.
In reality, no one thought this team was as good as the Eagles, and many had this as a loss, but they can still make the playoffs. However, they have to start playing better, and that better start Sunday night against Washington if they want to make the playoffs.
The New York Giants(7-4-1) have one of its biggest tests of the year when their NFC East rivals, the 11-1 Philadelphia Eagles, come to MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Philadelphia has the best record in the NFL and a lot of talent on both sides of the ball.
However, this is a division game, so on some level, you can throw the records out. Giants running back Saquon Barkley knows defeating the Eagles won’t be easy, but he’s looking forward to the challenge.
“They’re 11-1 for a reason,” Barkley said. “All phases of the ball – especially on defense – every single level, they’re talented with Pro Bowl-caliber players, to be honest. As a competitor, you look forward to that. You look forward to going against the best. We know we’re going to get their best, and it’s going to be a great game against Philly. Home, in December. The stadium is going to be rocking, so it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be a challenge, and we’re looking forward to it.”
In the first nine games, Barkley had four 100-yard performances. However, in the past three games, where the Giants were winless, Barkley is averaging 41 yards per contest, and last week against the Titans, Philly’s defense held Derrick Henry to just 30 yards rushing on 11 carries.
The fifth-year running back is impressed with Philly’s defense; however, he believes New York must take advantage of any and all opportunities to make plays.
“Like I said, watched the film, one thing that really stood out is not just how the corners, how the DBs came up and how they tackle, how aggressive they are and how they establish the line of scrimmage,” Barkley said. “One of my favorite players to play against and not to play against is (Philadelphia defensive tackle) Fletcher Cox. You can see at this year, whatever he’s in – he’s still balling, still making plays at a high level. Every single one of them guys from (Philadelphia defensive end Josh) Sweat – all of them. All of those guys are pretty talented, not pretty talented – very talented.
“It’s going to be a tough challenge, but I think if we go back to what we do in executing and focusing on the little things and take it one play at a time – when the opportunities are there, and the play is to be made, that’s when myself and all the other guys have to make a play.”
New York will have to play one of their best games of the season if they want to beat the Eagles. Philadelphia pressures you in many different ways, and if the Giants are not at their best, which they haven’t been the past few weeks, they will have a hard time winning on Sunday.
