November 08, 2026
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
The Eagles defense finally showed up in Week 9.
For around 40 minutes Sunday, it felt like maybe, just maybe the Eagles were going to end their losing streak and scratch out a win against an over-performing Giants team, thanks to a dynamic defense and an exciting new quarterback.
As it turns out, Joe Milton III, making his first NFL start, probably isn't the savior the Eagles (dropping to 2-7) need this season. Despite playing their best game of the season without the football, the Eagles lost their seventh game in a row and continued their tank after a 19-11 loss in Week 9.
If you're investing hope in anything Eagles-related this week, it's certainly the defense (particularly the pass rush). The offense (particularly the ground game) is a plummeting stock, and it isn't the buy low type either.
Here's our weekly Eagles stock watch:
For some reason, the Eagles "elite" on-paper defense couldn't do it against the one-win Commanders. Nor could they stuff the Cowboys atrocious run offense the week before.
But the Giants set this defense straight.
The playmaking came early and often, as they bucked several season-long trends in this one.
• The defense allowed 243 yards in Week 9, after allowing the sixth most in the NFL through eight weeks (367.3 yards)
• The defense held the Giants to 19 points, after allowing 25.3 per game, the 12th most though eight weeks
• A sack party, including the first of his Eagles career for Jonathan Greenard, two for linebacker Zack Baun, a strip sack for Jalen Carter and a big two-minute drill sack for Jordan Davis, fueled the defense in this one. The Eagles entered Sunday with 10 sacks over eight games, the second lowest total in the NFL. They finished Week 9 with six of them. Here's a look at Greenard's brutal blow to McCarthy:
Jonathan Greenard gets his first sack as an Eagle 🦅
— NFL (@NFL) November 8, 2026
NYGvsPHI on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/9WCGeUnDwC
• Philly's minus-4 turnover differential through the first half of the season is bad enough, but they had just four takeaways all season entering Giants week (just one fumble recovery). They had a rare takeaway in this one, with a muffed punt return giving the Eagles possession in the second.
Even more credit should be due to the defense, which did buckle at the end of the game, because once again it was relentlessly stuck on the field — this time for 35:45 with the Philly offense unable to move the ball much.
Is it possible this team will round a corner and the defense can save the Eagles' season and help them to contend after the upcoming bye? Without any sort of offense, probably not. The Steelers, Cowboys, Cardinals and Colts are ahead after the break, none of them juggernauts — but with the trade deadline coming Tuesday it's also possible this unit will look different in two weeks.
Honestly if we wanted to keep this congruent we could have easily chosen the Eagles offense, which wasn't completely stagnant and had a little more life to it with Joe Milton under center, but was nonetheless ineffective.
Milton used his legs to lead the Eagles to a team-high 64 rushing yards — and that's a problem in and of itself.
Whether you want to blame the incredibly snake-bitten running back rotation which has already lost (takes deep breath) Tank Bigsby, Will Shipley, Carson Steele and Dameon Pierce to injury, or the offensive line, which is transitioning on the fly from the loss of Lane Johnson (retirement) and Cam Jurgens (a trade), the ground game is one of the NFL's worst and was even worse on Sunday.
Saquon Barkley scored a touchdown in the first quarter but remains visibly limited and banged up. He ran 13 times for just 22 yards. Behind him, Elijah Mitchell is now the No. 2 and ran three times Sunday for six yards. The math there is 16 carries for 28 yards (1.8 yards per carry) Luckily for everyone, third stringer Jaydon Blue didn't touch the ball on the regular offense.
The bye week will be a godsend for Barkley and for a lot of other bruised and battered Eagles. There's a version of a Milton offense that actually could be effective in the NFL — but it needs a run game to complement his duel threat capabilities and agility with the football.
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