NY Giants Week 8: 3 Key Matchups vs. Eagles

There won't be any welcome signs out for the New York Giants when they visit Philadelphia at The Linc on Sunday, not after Big Blue rolled over their NFC East rivals, 34-17, two weeks ago.

Surely, the Eagles will be seeking payback, armed with the knowledge that they've won 12 straight home games (including the postseason) in this series.

The Giants (2-5) dominated their Oct. 9 meeting at MetLife Stadium and held former teammate Saquon Barkley to 58 yards on 12 carries, with 31 of those yards coming on the Eagles' first two plays from scrimmage.

For the season, the running back has rushed for 369 yards on 113 tries (3.3 average) with three touchdowns.

"I think everybody was just flying to the ball, getting a good knock back up front, wrapping him up and making sure he was hitting the ground," Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said of their first meeting.

"He's definitely the same threat if you watch the tape. I think you get lost in highlights and stuff like that, but a down-to-down play, a down-to-down running back, he's still playing really well. Numbers don't always show that, but the tape does."

Linebacker Brian Burns agreed, insisting that he still sees All-Pro talent on the screen.

"He's definitely the same threat he used to be," he said. "I don't think there's any slack in his talent or anything of that nature. I don't know what's going on in that building, so I'm not going to speak on that. But to answer your question, there's no slack in his game. So, I don't know why his numbers are down. Maybe just a [subpar] year."

The Eagles (5-2) have proven they can win despite Barkley's lackluster production, and their offense came alive in last week's 28-22 win over the Vikings.

"It's an explosive offense," countered Giants head coach Brian Daboll. "I said that the first time we played them, and it showed up in the Minnesota game against a really good defense. They had a perfect quarterback rating. Not many guys can do that– Jalen [Hurts] certainly did."

Hurts easily had his best game of the season, going 19-of-23 for 326 yards and three touchdowns on his way to a 158.3 passer rating.

What are the key matchups to watch versus the Eagles? We sort through that and discuss the most important aspects of what the Giants must do to turn aside their rivals for the second straight time in the latest edition of the Big Blue Breakdown podcast, available in the video above and wherever you get your podcasts.

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