EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – In every way imaginable, the Eagles dominated the New York Giants on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, winning 28-3 in the most convincing fashion with a powerful running game led by Saquon Barkley, a passing game that had a huge touchdown play on a fourth down, and a defense that smothered New York with a relentless pass rush, excellent tackling, and aggressiveness.

It was a blowout and it was a grand time on a picture-perfect Sunday and a homecoming of sorts that you dream about for running back Saquon Barkley.

Some observations as the Eagles raised their record to 4-2 for the season.

1. Saquon's return: A storybook day for No. 26

He went through his usual pregame routine, blocking out the noise from the fans and preparing to play at MetLife Stadium for the first time as an opposing player. After six seasons with the Giants, Barkley is now an Eagle and, yes, Sunday was much-anticipated. Barkley ran onto the field when the Eagles' offense took possession and the Giants fans in the crowd booed and the Eagles fans in the seats – and there were many – cheered. The crowd booed every time Barkley touched the ball in the first half until he shut them up on his eighth carry – taking a handoff from quarterback Jalen Hurts and hitting the left edge, following a Cam Jurgens block at the second level – by turning on the jets down the sideline for a 55-yard gain to the New York 19-yard line. Barkley responded at that moment, raising his hand and gesturing to the fans to "bring more" as he went back to the huddle. After a pair of Kenneth Gainwell runs gained 16 yards, Barkley took another handoff and plowed 3 yards up the middle for a touchdown. He had 75 rushing yards in the first half, 176 yards on 17 carries for the game.

New York's running backs Devin Singletary and Tyrone Tracy, meanwhile, had a combined 4 yards on 3 carries in the first half and were non-factors the entire game.

2. "Always Open" with some fourth-down magic

Head Coach Nick Sirianni continues to be aggressive on fourth down and on Sunday it paid off in a big way. The situation: Eagles ball, fourth-and-3 at the New York 41-yard line with Philadelphia ahead 7-0 and 4 minutes, 34 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Sirianni stayed with the offense, went for it on fourth down and Hurts delivered a perfect, drop-in-the-bread-basket pass to wide receiver A.J. Brown down the left side. Brown, who separated from cornerback Nick McCloud, made the catch and ran away from McCloud to complete the 41-yard scoring play. It was just beautiful and for Brown, another huge play. It was his third touchdown in the three games he's played and for the day, Brown caught five passes on five targets for 89 yards and the touchdown.

Sirianni went for it again in the third quarter with the Eagles ahead, 14-3, and facing a fourth-and-2 at the New York 5-yard line. Hurts scrambled for yards and a couple of plays later the Eagles scored on a Hurts quarterback sneak – sorry, Brotherly Shove – to take a 21-3 lead. And he did it again in the fourth quarter as Hurts scored from the 1-yard line. The Eagles are 9 of 13 going for it on fourth down this season.

3. Eagles defense eats again

We're finding out more and more about Vic Fangio's Eagles defense and you can see the level of comfort and confidence growing. Fangio is mixing in blitzes that are getting home, he's using all of his personnel, and he is showing his trust in the roster on that side of the ball. On Sunday, the Eagles dominated New York in every way. Josh Sweat and Co. dominated left tackle Joshua Ezeudu, in for the injured Andrew Thomas. Bryce Huff is on the rise, registering his first full quarterback sack after he had a half-sack against Cleveland. Nolan Smith was terrific, winning off the edge with his speed. Jalen Carter had a couple of sacks inside. Moro Ojomo again had impact inside with his quickness off the ball. Rookie Jalyx Hunt had the first quarterback sack of his NFL career. Nakobe Dean timed up a couple of blitzes perfectly and picked up two sacks, had double digits in tackles, and led a defense that limited New York to 119 total net yards and 10 first downs.

4. A strong day again for quarterback Jalen Hurts

It took a bit of time for the offense to get into gear – the second quarter, actually – as the feeling-out period extended. Hurts was patient, too, and finally when the dam broke he rode a great running game and then took advantage of some favorable matchups to put another point-guard kind of day of distribution: Hurts completed 10 of 14 for 114 yards one touchdown, and also scored two times on the Brotherly Shoves. He was patient and on point and while he held the ball and took a couple of early sacks, Hurts was efficient and smart. He did not turn the ball over for a second consecutive game. He put the offense in great position. And in the fourth quarter, the first play of the quarter in fact, Hurts made his best play, escaping a clear blitz, leaving the pocket, and turning on the jets to convert a third-and-7 play with a 16-yard gain to the New York 18-yard line. Fantastic play that kept a drive alive and led to his second touchdown run and a 28-3 lead.

5. Let's hear it for the boys up front – all of them

Great job by the offensive line that was missing left tackle Jordan Mailata and, in blocking situations, tight end Dallas Goedert. Fred Johnson did a very nice job and while he gave up a play or two early to Brian Burns, Johnson really played well looking at an entire game in which the Eagles ran for more than 250 yards and allowed Hurts to operate with some room after a patchy start. More than that, Tyler Steen replaced Mekhi Becton (concussion) at right guard and played another outstanding game, just has he had in New Orleans. The in-line blocking from tight ends Grant Calcaterra and Jack Stoll helped a lot as well, giving the running backs – Gainwell was a force as well as Barkley – plenty of room to get to the second level.

6. Looking at some key areas – namely, the red zone

This is where games are won and lost, right? The Eagles scored three touchdowns on their three trips into the red zone. Perfection. They struggled on third down – converting only 1 of their first 10 – but they won all three times they went for it on fourth down. The defense held the Giants to a field goal in the red zone, their only scoring chance. Rookie Cooper DeJean had 45 big yards on 3 punt returns, running hard with decisiveness, looking really good again. Kelee Ringo was outstanding in punt coverage. The defense limited standout rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers to 4 receptions and 41 yards.