Packers Vs. Eagles: Ex-Giants All-Pros Ready To Matchup On Bigger Stage

PHILADELPHIA - Situation matters in the NFL.

Most understood Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney could play in what has become the NFL’s Siberian-like outpost of East Rutherford, NJ but it took the two friends, former teammates, and co-captains of the New York Giants, leaving to show just how good they could be.

Both were named first-time All-Pros earlier this week as Barkley’s 14-3 Philadelphia Eagles prepare to host McKinney’s 11-6 Green Bay Packers on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field on Wild Card Weekend.

Now running behind perhaps the best offensive line in football rather than a perennially poorly coached unit with the Giants, Barkley became just the ninth player in NFL history to crack 2,000 yards with the Eagles and had a real chance to break Eric Dickerson’s all-time single-season record of 2,105 has Philadelphia not decided to rest its starters in Week 18 against the Giants.

The superstar “settled” for a franchise record 2,005 and wasn’t looking to spike the football against his old team.

"It would have been special to do it against the Giants, but not for the reasons how you guys would probably perceive it to be,” the man now known as “2K SA” (pronounced 2K Say) said earlier this month. “At the end of the day, I got nothing but love and respect for those guys over there.

“There's a lot of trainers, coaches, and strength guys that helped me out with my ACL, helped me out with my injuries, and I wouldn't be able to be the player I am today without those guys over there too. So it would have kinda been like a full circle moment.”

Moving forward, Barkley was asked about McKinney, a defensive playmaking machine with some of the best range and ball skills in the NFL when it comes to coverage.

With eight interceptions on the season, including one in the Eagles’ 34-29 Week 1 barnburner win against the Packers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, McKinney was graded out as the fourth-best safety in football this season by Pro Football Focus.

Rewind to the spring and Eagles GM Howie Roseman had serious interest in McKinney on the free agent market as well until the Alabama product indeed a massive four-year, $67 million contract with the Packers.

"Talking to him last year [with the Giants] and having a tough year, not having the season we would like, being captains of the team — and then see him go over there and thrive and see me coming here and thrive, it's a beautiful thing,” said Barkley.

When talent meets opportunity, special things can happen.

“We're in two spots where we were able to let our play show. And I think that's for a lot of guys in the league — not only for the Giants — but a lot of guys in the league are super talented and don't get the opportunity to show it,” Barkley explained. “I'm thankful we got the opportunity to show it.”

Now it’s time to show it again on an even bigger platform for both players.

“We played each other in Week 1, that was a big stage there,” Barkley said of the NFL’s first game in Brazil. “Now it's an even bigger stage."

JOHN MCMULLEN’S PREDICTION: Eagles 27, Packers 23

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