AJ Brown’s Absence Should Unleash Eagles’ Saquon Barkley
The Philadelphia Eagles are preparing for their second matchup against the New York Giants in three weeks.
New York was able to pull off the upset in Week 6, but the Eagles took a step back in the right direction in Week 7 and now will welcome one of its biggest rivals to Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday afternoon. The biggest news of the week was the Eagles losing AJ Brown for the matchup due to a hamstring injury.
While this is the case, the Eagles' offense should still be able to get the ball moving and it should start with Saquon Barkley. If there ever was a time for Barkley to get it going, it would be on Sunday. Last year, much was made about Barkley coming over to Philadelphia after spending the beginning of his career with the Giants. That's not as big of a talking point this year, but Sunday actually will be the first time he faces his old team as a member of the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
Week 8 should be Saquon Barkley's day to shine
The Eagles obviously faced the Giants twice last year, but Barkley and the starters were rested for the Week 18 matchup at home. On the road, Barkley was brilliant against his old team finishing the matchup with 176 rushing yards on 17 carries to go along with a touchdown.
This season hasn't gone as planned for Barkley. He has 369 total rushing yards in seven games to go along with three rushing touchdowns. In comparison, Barkley had 326 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the three games that Brown missed early on last year from Week 2 through Week 4. He averaged
With Brown set to miss Week 8, the Eagles need to turn to the running game more. Barkley had 18 carries for 44 yards last week, 12 rushes for 58 yards the week before against the Giants, and six carries for 30 yards against the Denver Broncos.
Although it's unfortunate that Brown is out, Barkley had success when he was out last year and there's some added theatrics to the matchup as it's Barkley's first matchup at home against the Giants as a member of the Eagles and Philadelphia is looking for revenge. With that being said, if there was a time to think Barkley could breakout, it would be this week.
Three stars - Three milestones. One unforgettable night in Tampa. Kucherov, Hedman, and Hagel all etched their names into Lightning history during a thrilling 4–3 victory in front of an electric crowd at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, FL
The energy was electric inside Benchmark International Arena on Saturday night as the Tampa Bay Lightning got themselves back in the win column on a night where not one, not two, but three of their starters found themselves making history. When the final buzzer went off, the Lightning were on top 4-3 as they secured their second win of the season in exciting fashion. The crowd brought the thunder, the Lightning struck, and the Lightning won!
Jake Guentzel go the Lightning on the scoreboard first with the lone goal of the first period. His wrist shot 9:10 into the period put the Lightning on top 1-0 with assists by Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli who had a huge night for Tampa Bay.
Anaheim scored their first goal of the match 4:42 into the second period to tie it up 1-1. Jacob Trouba scored his second goal of the season on a slap shot that was assisted by Troy Terry and Mason McTavish.
The Lightning then went back-to-back in the second period to extend their lead to 3-1. Their second goal of the night came on a deflected shot by Guentzel (his second of the night and fourth of the year). He was assisted by Brayden Point and making history, Nikita Kucherov who’s fourth assist of the season marked a milestone 1,000 career points for the 32-year old from Maikop, Russia. He became just the second Lightning player to reach the milestone and the fastest from Tampa to ever do it.
Milestone marker 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ pic.twitter.com/2cZZTsgLYd
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) October 25, 2025
History continued for Tampa Bay skaters as their third goal of the day belonged to Anthony Cirelli. His backhand shot was assisted by two historic milestones: Brandon Hagel’s assist marked his 300th career point and the assist from Victor Hedman marked Hedman’s 800th career assist as the milestones were flying across the ice on Saturday.
Tony's goal ☑️
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) October 25, 2025
Hagel's 300th point ☑️
Heddy's 800th point ☑️ pic.twitter.com/5MGZAvnT6d
The Ducks made things interesting in the third period when they scored two goals in under a minute. The first was by Ryan Poehling with assists from Ross Johnston and Drew Helleson that made it a 3-2 game and then Terry scored with assists by Cutter Gauthier and Leo Carlsson to tie it up 3-3 and raise the pressure inside Benchmark International Arena.
But the Lightning continued to skate hard and with just over three minutes left to play, Cirelli pushed his second goal of the night and the fifth of his season through the Ducks’ net on a power play goal by wrist shot to give Tampa Bay a 4-3 lead they never looked back on. Kucherov (Point No. 1,001) and Hedman (Point No. 301) had the assists as the Lightning went on to secure their second win of the season and their first in front of their home crowd in Tampa Bay.
It was only right that they went on to claim victory on a night when three of their players marked career milestones. On a special and electric night, the Lightning go to sleep happy.
It’s a quick turn around now for Tampa Bay as they return to the ice at Benchmark International Arena on Sunday at 5:00PM EST to take on the 5-0-2 Las Vegas Golden Nights.
