As Saquon Barkley entered MetLife Stadium to face the New York Giants for the first time as a Philadelphia Eagle, he noticed fans burning his old Giants jersey.
Barkley found that “crazy,” but he did what he always did in big games for the Giants: he played exceptionally well. He ran past and through his former teammates, gaining 176 yards and scoring a touchdown, helping the Eagles to a 28-3 win over the struggling Giants.
His performance changed the boos he received at the start into cheers by the end. Barkley said nothing bothered him during the game—not the boos, the trash-talking from former teammates, or his slow start in the first quarter. In fact, he thought the booing was a compliment in the end. He just hopes he won’t see his jersey burned again.
“There’s a reason why when I go out there and I’m getting booed, I didn’t remove myself from the moment,” said Barkley, who rushed for 5,211 yards and scored 47 touchdowns during his five seasons with the Giants, making him fourth in franchise history. “I stayed locked in the whole time.”
Jalen Hurts scored two touchdowns on quarterback sneaks and threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown. The Eagles (4-2) defeated the Giants (2-5) for the sixth time in seven games and the 14th time in 17 matchups. Philadelphia’s defense was impressive too, recording eight sacks and holding New York to just 119 yards.
What made this game different was that Barkley was now wearing an Eagles uniform. The Giants had selected him second overall in 2018, but he signed a three-year, $37.5 million contract with Philadelphia in March.
Barkley proved he was worth every bit of his contract on Sunday. He started the Eagles off strong with a 55-yard run to the left, which helped set up his 3-yard touchdown that made it 7-0 in the second quarter. Jalen Hurts then connected with A.J. Brown on a fourth-and-3 play to extend the lead to 14-0.
Barkley also had a 38-yard run up the middle that set up Hurts’ first quarterback sneak touchdown in the third quarter, and his 41-yard run in the fourth led to the second.
Barkley finished with 176 rushing yards on 17 carries, averaging 10.4 yards per carry, which is the second-highest total of his career. His best was 189 yards against Washington on December 22, 2019, and he didn’t play much toward the end of the game.
“I said to him, ‘Just be yourself,’” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “He’s been one of the best players on his football teams since probably he was 8 years old. Just go be yourself. I was happy for him that he was able to have that experience.”
After the game, Giants coach Brian Daboll took time to hug Barkley. “He played well,” Daboll said. “Like we said, if he gets in space, he’s going to make some yards and he played well, particularly there in the second half.”
Hurts completed 10 of 14 passes for 114 yards, and his day ended after his second touchdown run. He was sacked four times, including twice by Dexter Lawrence, who now has nine sacks this season.
“I played with him for years,” Lawrence said about Barkley. “I know his attitude towards the game and that’s the way he approached it today.”
Greg Joseph kicked a 38-yard field goal for the Giants in the final seconds of the first half. Daboll received sarcastic cheers early in the fourth quarter when he replaced quarterback Daniel Jones with Drew Lock. A struggling Jones finished 14 of 21 for 99 yards, while rookie receiver Malik Nabers caught four passes for 41 yards.
The Giants remain winless at home, having scored just one touchdown in their last four games.
