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Players to watch in Week 6 vs. Eagles

PLAYERS-TO-WATCH-WEEK-6

The Giants will look to bounce back from Sunday's loss in New Orleans when they face off against the Eagles at MetLife Stadium on Thursday Night Football.

This Week 6 game will be the first of two meetings between the teams over a span of 17 days, as they face off again in Philadelphia in Week 8.

The Giants are looking for their first divisional win of 2025 after falling to the Commanders and Cowboys on the road in the first two weeks of the season. Meanwhile, the Eagles aim for their second NFC East victory following their season-opening win over the Cowboys.

Here are five players to watch in the divisional matchup.

QB Jaxson Dart

One week after winning in his first career start, the rookie quarterback once again completed 65.0 percent of his passes, same as Week 4, for 202 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He took just one sack against the Saints, compared to five against the Chargers, but did lose a fumble. Dart is facing some adversity for the first time in his young career following his three-turnover game.

"This was my first loss in the NFL, and for just being realistic, it's not going to be my last," Dart told the media Tuesday. "Obviously, you don't want those things to happen, but it's just part of the game. So, just trying to come back, identify the things I need to work on, at the same time being able to say things I did well, and then try to carry those over to the next week. Just the communication with the guys and trying to just keep the confidence high with the players on the team, and us being able to go out there and execute when we need to."

For the second consecutive week, Dart proved to be a real threat on the ground. The young signal-caller topped 50 rushing yards again, this time going for 55 yards on just seven carries, good for an average of 7.9 yards per carry. Dart may have an opportunity to find more success on the ground this week, as the Eagles have allowed the opposing quarterback to average at least 6.5 yards per carry in three of their last four games.

"Divisional games, they hold a little more weight," Dart said about facing the Eagles. "Obviously, understanding the history of this matchup and the intensity of it carries weight as well. I'm really just excited to get out there on the field Thursday night and have a lot of fun competing. It's going to be a really cool environment."

TE Theo Johnson

Johnson was featured in this article last week and ended up having a breakout performance. The second-year tight end tied Cam Skattebo with seven targets and six receptions, both of which were the most on the team. Johnson took those six receptions for 33 yards, but more notably, found the end zone twice against the Saints. In Dart's two starts, Johnson has registered nine receptions on 12 targets for 50 yards and all three of the rookie QB's touchdowns.

"I've been high on Theo since I really played against him in college," Dart said. "We played in the Peach Bowl, and he had a touchdown. I think just as a player, as a competitor, you're able to see guys who do a lot of really good things, even if they're on a different team. So, I've known about him since college. Obviously, what stood out initially was his combine numbers and just athletic he was. So, I was really excited coming in here to be able to be on the same field with him.

"He's been nothing but just hardworking and a guy who you can really trust out there on the field, so I look forward to continuing to develop our timing, our relationship with each other. I'm just excited to be able to play with him for a long time."

Johnson faces a tough matchup this week. Philadelphia comes into this game having had plenty of success containing tight ends this season. Through five games, the Eagles have allowed just 19 receptions for 141 yards and a touchdown against opposing tight ends. However, Broncos tight end Evan Engram was able to manage four receptions for 33 yards and a score against the Eagles last week.

LT Andrew Thomas

It took a few weeks into the season to get Thomas back on the field as a full-time player. But since he's returned to game action, the left tackle has been nothing short of outstanding. Thomas played for most of the first half against the Chiefs in Week 3 before playing every offensive snap over the Giants' last two games.

According to Next Gen Stats, Thomas leads all offensive tackles with at least 50 pass-block snaps in pressure rate allowed this season at 1.2 percent, and only trails Panthers center Austin Corbett (1.1 percent) among all offensive linemen. Thomas is one of only two left tackles to have allowed just one total pressure in two consecutive starts this season, with Dolphins tackle Patrick Paul being the other.

The Eagles have not had a ton of success getting after the quarterback so far this season. They have seven sacks on the season, tied for 25th in the league, but 1.5 of those sacks have come from long-time NFL veteran Za'Darius Smith, who has lined up on the right edge the most for the Philadelphia defense.

ILB Bobby Okereke

Bobby Okereke enters Week 6 tied for fourth in the NFL with 48 total tackles. According to some of the underlying metrics, the veteran linebacker has stepped up in the run game this year.

Okereke has recorded a tackle for an unsuccessful offensive play on 17.4 percent of run snaps this season, the highest rate of all linebackers with at least 50 run snaps, according to NGS. This mark is well above his career average of 10.6 percent coming into the season, as well as the league average among all linebackers from 2019 to 2024 of 11.0 percent. Not only that, but Okereke has also seen his missed tackle rate drop significantly this season. Coming into the 2025 campaign, that figure was at 11.8 percent, but this season, it's all the way down at 3.4 percent after he's missed just one tackle all season.

The veteran picked up 10 total tackles in Week 5, marking his third game with double digit tackles this season. The Giants are going to need another strong outing from Okereke this week as they face an Eagles offense that has been one of the most successful at running the football for years. While Saquon Barkley has gotten his season off to a bit of a slow start, he still remains one of the more explosive backs in the NFL. Additionally, Jalen Hurts has recorded at least nine rush attempts in four of five games this season, with a total of 182 yards and four touchdowns on the ground already.

OLB Abdul Carter

When looking at his season stats, it may not look like Carter has made too big of an impact in the pass rush thus far. But the traditional box score does not tell the whole story. Carter has generated 25 quarterback pressures through his first five games, which ranks as the seventh-most in the NFL and 15 more than any other rookie. To take it a step further, the 22-year-old has 15 pressures in under 2.5 seconds, which is tied with Nik Bonitto and Will Anderson for the most in the NFL.

Carter has a quarterback pressure rate of 16.8 percent, which is the 14th-highest among all players with at least 50 pass rushes. According to NGS, when Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Carter are all on the field, the defense has pressured the quarterback on 45.7 percent of drop backs and allowed a drop back success rate of 40.2 percent. When one of them leaves the field, the pressure rate drops to 32.1 percent and the drop back success rate increases to 46.8 percent.

The Eagles have surrendered 15 sacks on the year, tied for the ninth-most in the league. Six of those sacks came in last week's loss to the Broncos, as edge rusher Nik Bonitto had five total pressures, which led to 2.5 sacks.

"One, I would just say his execution," Carter said when asked what makes Hurts such a good quarterback. "Then obviously he's got great players around him. Obviously, when you execute yourself and with great players, you're going to be a good player."

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