November 08, 2026
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Jordan Davis got a sack, but the Eagles couldn't sack their losing streak, which extended to seven games.
There was no spark, no juice, and no difference Sunday at the Linc when the Eagles made a QB change with the Giants coming to town.
Maybe the only unexpected development was an upstart and decent Giants team playing to the low level of their opponents, who had lost six straight going into the game.
The Eagles held a two-point lead over the sloppy Giants late in the third quarter, and the Giants were so bad offensively for much of the game it appeared the Eagles might actually get their first win since Week 2 even without any offensive punch of their own.
But, no. Their nightmarish 2026 season came crashing back in the final 20 minutes of the game, as they allowed a TD drive and 13 consecutive points to fall 19-11 for their seventh consecutive loss as they limp and trudge into the bye week.
As we do every week, we hand out grades for Eagles performances:
The thought process of going to Joe Milton was, hey, the offense couldn't get any worse. Well, someone hold Tanner McKee's beer. The Eagles totaled just 220 yards – aided by some garbage time production – and held the ball for slightly longer than 25 minutes. They found the end zone just once, for the third time this season. The run game is still absent and the pass game had nothing promising to offer.
Rush offense
With Milton in, the Tush Push made a triumphant return as Nick Sirianni elected to go for two after a Giants penalty on a PAT kick following Saquon Barkley's 3-yard TD run. Milton plunged through for an 8-6 lead. But later, on a 4th-and-1 coming out of the 2-minute warning, the Eagles were in shotgun and Barkley got stuffed behind the line of scrimmage for a turnover on downs.
Barkley and Eli Mitchell combined to average 2.15 yards per carry in the first half and 1.75 overall, churning out just 28 yards. Milton ripped off a 19-yard run on the second possession and scrambled for 24 more in garbage time. Mind you, these Giants are an improved team, but not the '85 Bears or last year's Seahawks.
Pass offense
The banking on Milton's athleticism and big arm paid off on just one possession, early in the first. He escaped on third down for a 19-yard run into Giants territory and two play later went deep for Darius Cooper, who drew pass interference to set up 1st-and-goal, leading to a go-ahead TD. Other than that, Milton wasn't very accurate when he did have time, and was under duress on several snaps.
There weren't as many unblocked pressures as usual, but Arvel Reese came untouched on a blitz in the first half and darn near suplexed Milton for a thundering sack that echoed around the stadium. Amazingly, Milton got right up. The Eagles added seven more three-and-outs to their season total, including four straight spanning the third and fourth quarters.
After weeks – months? – of failing to play to their standard, the Eagles finally played like a (slightly) above-average defense with a nose for hitting the quarterback. But in the second half, when they really needed stops and when the Giants were on their backup QB, the defense wilted like it's done many times this season.
Rush defense
In fairness, the Giants were down to third-stringer Devin Singletary with Cam Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy out. The Giants got almost as many rushing yards from QBs (33) as they did from RBs (51), so basically the Eagles fared better against a bunch of backups this week than they did last week against Washington's reserves. So there's progress, I suppose.
It's also worth noting a minor personnel change, as DC Vic Fangio occasionally subbed in backup CB Kelee Ringo on obvious run downs in place of Riq Woolen, whose tackling issues go back to his Seattle days, when he was also kept off the field on obvious run downs.
Pass defense
But...that didn't stop Woolen from getting beaten in pass defense and committing a bad special teams penalty. Woolen, who could be gone by Tuesday's trade deadline, surrendered a critical 18-yard pass to rookie WR Malachi Fields on 3rd-and-15 in the third quarter, then couldn't wrap up Jameis Winston behind scrimmage on a blitz that turned into a first-down scramble, then gave up a 15-yard catch to Fields on a backside dig inside the 5-yard-line, all of which helped set up the Giants' go-ahead TD.
On the bright side, the Eagles increased their season sack total by more than 50 percent. They came into the game with 10 and left with 6.0 more, as Zack Baun led the way with 2.0. But the Eagles weren't tight enough on third down. They were beat badly on two third downs on the opening drive, a wide open 27-yarder by TE Isaiah Likely and 17-yarder from Darnell Mooney that quickly got the Giants into Eagles territory to set up a field goal.
Saving this grade for the Birds was Braden Mann's 86-yard punt before halftime, a ball booted from his own end zone that landed near the New York 20 and took a favorable bounce before going out of bounds at the 6, a major turn – at that time – as the Giants just kneeled out the half down 8-6 instead of getting great field position for an opportunity to at least go ahead on a last-second field goal.
Mann's punt ranks second in franchise history behind Randall Cunningham's 91-yarder, so Mann has the longest punt in team history by an actual punter, and the NFL's longest in the past 25 years. Mann added a 60-yarder in the second half. The Birds also recovered a muffed punt.
But there was some ugliness, too. Ringo's unsportmanlike penalty on the Eagles' first punt allowed the Giants to start their second possession just shy of midfield, which turned into another Giants field goal and 6-0 lead. Cooper DeJean opted to return a second-quarter punt at the 6-yard-line that most likely would've gone into the end zone. He only made it to the 11 and the Birds never made it past midfield.
They did attempt a nifty onside kick with the ball on the ground sideways that made it spin awkwardly, but the Giants recovered it anyway. Not a bad try, though.
Hey, the Eagles tried to do something that would give their offense a lift, and it didn't work. There's no evidence to suggest that Tanner McKee would've fared much better.
But offensively, there wasn't enough done again to generate an honest run game and not enough usage of Milton's athleticism to help it – zone reads, designed runs. Heck, can't they get Cole Payton on the field in a Wildcat role? Anything? Did the Eagles call OC Sean Mannion supposed to be an "evil genius?" Sure doesn't appear like one.
Kudos to Fangio for finally unlocking the pass rush. Just too little, too late.
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