The Eagles needed Tank Bigsby, and he trucked straight through the Giants

When Saquon Barkley exited Sunday, Tank Bigsby got the Eagles to the finish line in a big way.

By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

Bill Streicher/Imagn Images

Tank Bigsby got his shot, and the Giants couldn't stop him.

Saquon Barkley pulled up limp along the sideline and exited the game with what was ruled a groin injury soon after, then Jalen Hurts went 16 yards backwards on a sack from an attempt to escape the pocket gone awry. 

The Eagles were faced with a long 2nd-and-26 at their own 40 early into the fourth quarter, still leading the rival New York Giants by 11 at that point Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, but under a scenario where they've allowed too many of their games to be much closer than they probably ever really needed to be. 

Then the Eagles ran the ball out of the gun with Tank Bigsby. He made a cut back to his right at the line, turned the corner into space, then trucked through the remaining Giants defenders who were suddenly flailing to stop him short of the marker. 

They couldn't.

Bigsby made it 29 yards for the first down and then some, flexing after the whistle to the roar of the Philly crowd, all celebrating that huge down and distance erased.

A few plays later, Hurts found tight end Dallas Goedert on a clear path to the end zone for a touchdown that shifted the Eagles into cruise control.

They went on to win 38-20. Bigsby crashed through the Giants' defense a few more times after that first big run to set up one more Philadelphia touchdown and to top out at 104 yards rushing for the day. He joined Barkley, who finally broke out to 150 yards rushing himself, to help put together what was clearly the Eagles' best running effort of the season and to send the team breathing easy into a much-needed bye week at 6-2. 

But moreover, when Barkley exited early in the fourth quarter with injury, Bigsby stepped up. 

Barkley told reporters afterward that the injury wasn't anything too concerning and that the Eagles could've put him back in if they needed him, but Bigsby prevented the risk. 

He got them to the finish line in a big way, and seemed to be just waiting for that chance.

"There's a reason we traded for him," head coach Nick Sirianni said of Bigsby postgame. "Really explosive runner. You see that, we see that all the time in practice, and as he's caught up to our system and everything that we do, learning it, he's gotten more opportunities, and it's been fun to see him run with the football."

In Sunday's win, Bigsby's opportunity jumped to nine carries, which proved more than enough to break the 100-yard rushing mark at an average of 11.6 yards per carry against an ailing Giants defense.

Originally, when the Eagles acquired him from the Jaguars back in early September for two 2026 late-round draft picks, the general thought was that he would be for kick return help since second-string running back and returner Will Shipley was down with injury.

The listed 5-foot-11, 215-pound back runs with considerable power, though, and after this week – and with the bye week ahead to plan – maybe Bigsby's showing against the Giants was enough to work toward more of a two-headed rushing monster between Barkley and himself in the offensive backfield. 

After all, as slow as Barkley's start to the year has been up until Sunday, the Eagles still do need to be considerate of his carries after heavy usage last season if they hope to make it to the end again.

Plus, even though Bigsby has only had 10 carries total between this week against the Giants and last week's win over the Vikings in Minnesota, it's still a pretty impressive sample size at an average of 11.5 yards per carry. 

Not a lot, for sure...

"But we know we can count on him," Sirianni said. "He can run violently, he can make you miss, he's explosive, he can hit a home run, so I'm excited about what he brings to the table."

"Just thankful for the opportunity," Bigsby told reporters from the Eagles locker room postgame. "Because I've always been ready when my name gets called."

 

https://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-news-tank-bigsby-big-run-stats-analysis-running-back-duo-saquon-barkley/

Bigsby looked really good on Sunday. He came in, looked fast and bright and got some hard yards. That play on 2nd and 26 was huge but that play was mostly on a terrible defense who tackled each other. Bigsby didn’t really have to do a lot there. He ran fast so that’s great but he only really got touched once before the sticks and it wasn’t that he made the defense miss him there they just whiffed.

But he’s a good RB who rushed for nearly 800 yards as a back up last year for a bad Jags team. He’s going to play a role in this team trying to achieve their goals and in the run game I’m glad that he’s here.