Giants vs. Eagles: Preview, prediction, what to watch for in Week 8

An inside look at Sunday’s Giants-Eagles NFL Week 8 matchup in Philadelphia:  

MARQUEE MATCHUP

Eagles DT Jalen Carter vs. Giants interior offensive line

The Giants caught a huge break two weeks ago when Carter on game night was declared inactive with a heel injury.

No such luck this time around.

Carter is back and dominating.

His pressure on Carson Wentz last week led to a pick six interception return.

Right guard Greg Van Roten will get a heavy dose of Carter, and center John Michael Schmitz, returning after missing one game in concussion protocol, also will have his hands full with one of the league’s premier interior defensive linemen.

Four downs

Men down: This is going to be an unfamiliar and potentially harmful situation for the Giants in their defensive backfield, as they are going to have to play without their best cornerback, Paulson Adebo and best safety, Jevon Holland.

Adebo played all 417 snaps on defense in the first six games and Holland played 408 of them.

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They both were forced out with knee injuries in Denver, and the defense collapsed without them.

Dane Belton is a special teams ace with enough experience to compete as Holland’s replacement. Deonte Banks, the 2023 first-round pick, is talented but has thus far been a bust and engenders little confidence that he can get it done.

The Giants catch a break, as stud Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown (knee) is out.

The wait continues: There is no doubt Abdul Carter is a physically gifted athlete, and his presence is felt when he is on the field.

Given how much hype there was for the No. 3 pick in the 2025 draft, his production through seven games is … lagging.

He has a half-sack, 16 tackles, six quarterback knockdowns and 11 pressures.

He is close to making a big impact in a game, but it has not happened yet.

“Abdul is a great talent. I mean, obviously, the numbers aren’t there,” said Brian Burns, tied for the NFL lead with nine sacks. “But they’re going to come. And I’ve just kind of been trying to keep his head straight on that. Like, he’s going to be something special.”

Not much Bark: Saquon Barkley is coming off a game in Minnesota in which he gained just 44 yards and averaged a mere 2.9 yards per rushing attempt. As it turns out, that is not an aberration.

Barkley has yet to get untracked this season after a mind-blowing 2,005 rushing yards in 2024. He is averaging jut 3.3 yards per attempt and on pace for 896 yards.

This version of Barkley is more what the Giants saw too often, proving that offensive line play matters.

“We’re working like crazy to figure it out, and I think we’ve had some good thoughts here and now we got to go put it to work,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said.

Trust factor: The call late in the fourth quarter last week could have been to run it a third time and force the Broncos to burn their final time out then punt the ball away.

Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka decided to call a pass play, but it backfired when Jaxson Dart threw an interception.

“With max protection, with the ball in Jaxson’s hand, that was something I felt really confident about just because of the amount of production and things that he’s done over the course of his time here,” Kafka said. Did the turnover cause any sort of diminished confidence in the rookie? “It doesn’t, it really doesn’t,” Kafka said. “And I don’t really second guess the call, I don’t have any regrets over it.”

Paul’s pick

We shall see if the Eagles are about to hit their stride and embark on a winning streak. Jalen Hurts should be able to feast on the depleted Giants secondary, and at some point Saquon Barkley breaks loose, right? Jaxson Dart gets his indoctrination into life on the road in Philly. That usually ends unpleasantly for those wearing Giants colors.

Eagles 27, Giants 16