Saquon Barkley runs roughshod, Daniel Jones benched as listless Giants get destroyed by Eagles

The boos at the start were loud. The fans had spoken and they were not welcoming back Saquon Barkley.

The jeers thereafter were even louder and directed not at the former Giants running back but at their own team, their own shabby, downtrodden offense and their own sagging quarterback. The fans had spoken. They had seen enough of this nonsense.

Once again, the Giants saved their worst for their paying customers. Their defense came out strong and spirited but were pretty much out there alone. Daniel Jones was swamped from start to finish in another unproductive, listless and inept MetLife Stadium showing that got him benched. Barkley as an opponent had a grand old time out there, churning and burning for 176 yards (only only 17 rushing attempts) and one touchdown. As usual, the Giants took a dive against the Eagles, losing 28-3 to continue their descent into the depths of the NFC East.

It was so bad that Jones, with 11:26 remaining, was replaced by backup Drew Lock. Jones completed 14 of 21 passes for 99 yards and was under fire, getting sacked seven times behind a shaky offensive line playing its first game this season without left tackle Andrew Thomas, who is on injured reserve following foot surgery.

Jones has now failed to throw a touchdown pass in six consecutive home games and the Giants have a total of 10 points in the past two games. That he was sent to the sideline by head coach Brian Daboll on the same day Barkley returned to torch his erstwhile team is some sad Giants symmetry.

The return of rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers, who missed the past two games in the concussion protocol, did nothing to enliven the attack. Nabers caught four passes for 41 yards. He cannot throw it to himself.

Barkley got the last laugh in this one. He wanted to remain a Giant for Life but the franchise that selected him No. 2 overall in 2018 would not match his contract ideas. He said earlier in the week that he did not expect to get booed, which was either wishful thinking or a case of him being untruthful. Either way, he was a marked man. The Giants had him bottled up — 17 yards on his first seven rushing attempts — before he did what he often does — erupt.

Barkley early in the second quarter raced around the left side for 55 yards, with Deonte Banks pushing him out of bounds to save a touchdown. Backup Kenneth Gainwell got the ball the next two plays but no one other than Barkley was getting to put it in the end zone. Barkley did it with a 3-yard run to put the Eagles up 7-0.

Barkley added a 41-yard jaunt in the third quarter and they helped propel Jalen Hurts into the end zone on a Tush Push to make it 28-3 early in the fourth quarter. He needed to trade green for blue to have some fun in this Jersey Turnpike affair.

The beat goes on for the Giants (2-5) and so do the beatdowns. They have now lost six of their last seven games in this one-sided rivalry and the inequity runs even deeper: 14 losses in the last 17 games and 28 losses in the last 34 games.

The Giants are now 0-3 in their division and 0-4 at home.

Hurts in the second quarter hit A.J. Brown for a 41-yard scoring connection — Brown got a step on cornerback Nick McCloud — that made it 14-0. The closest the Giants got to a touchdown was Jones’ 14-yard strike to Theo Johnson in the end zone. The rookie tight end was called for offensive pass interference, though, and the Giants settled for Greg Joseph’s 38-yard field goal to avoid getting shut out in the first half.

The decision to insert third-year Josh Ezeudu in as the starting left tackle in place of Thomas proved to be unsatisfactory. Ezeudu gave up two first quarter sacks. On the first, Josh Sweat beat him cleanly and Sweat was unimpeded by a chip block attempt by tight end Daniel Bellinger. On the second, Nolan Smith stormed in to drop Jones for an 11-yard loss.

The Giants had the option to move Jermaine Eluemunor to left tackle and put 2022 first round pick Evan Neal in at right tackle but the coaching staff put its faith in Ezeudu, who failed last season in his left tackle trial.

The Eagles came into the game with 11 sacks in their first five games but they overwhelmed the Giants up front in what easily was the worst showing all season for the offensive line.

On defense, the Giants were able to get to Hurts, sacking him four times in the first half. Gradually, though, Barkley wore out the defense of the team he used to play for and the Eagles with the greatest of ease did what they are accustomed to doing against the team they own.