Barwin On Monday Night Vs. Giants: 'I Can Start To Feel It'
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It was easily the best game of the season for the Eagles on Sunday.
The Birds rolled the now 1-4 New Orleans Saints at the Linc 39-17, piling up 519 yards of offense in the process while forcing four Saints' turnovers. The victory improved the Eagles to 2-3 and put them right in the thick of the NFC East race heading into Monday night's showdown with the Giants.
"We needed to do that," linebacker Connor Barwin tells KYW Newsradio. "We knew it was a huge game and it was great to go out there and play well on defense, play well on offense and play well on special teams for four quarters. We need to continue to play that way and continue to improve moving forward."
Listen to the entire interview with Connor Barwin
Barwin spoke to KYW Newsradio after taking part in a community service event at the Guild House Urban Farm Hub on Fairmount Avenue where Eagles players helped support and encourage public access to healthy food systems.
Barwin has been one of the most consistent pieces on defense for the Eagles since he arrived in Philadelphia as a free agent in 2013. He's part of a front seven that has been dominant at times and on Sunday that group was led by defensive lineman Fletcher Cox. Cox finished with three sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Fellow defensive lineman Bennie Logan also had a sack and both players created general mayhem all game long. Barwin says he's come to expect that kind of quality play from those two.
"For me and (fellow outside linebacker Brandon Graham), our job is to keep everything inside of us for the most part, in almost all of our defenses," Barwin says. "So we trust them. If we can keep it inside, we know the guys are going to get the plays done inside."
The season hasn't gone according to plan so far for the Eagles, but no one in the division has taken control. The Giants lead the way with a 3-2 mark, so an Eagles win on Monday night would make up a for a lot of the early missteps. The game may be days away, but Barwin says he can already sense the buzz for this match-up.
"I can start to feel it," Barwin says. "The division is obviously very tight, they're in first place, their big win (Sunday night) over the 49ers. So it's a huge game for us. It's obviously Monday Night football and it's in Philadelphia. So we'll be excited."
Barwin has 24 tackles and two sacks so far this season for the Eagles.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
