Not much went right for the Eagles on Thursday night against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. A fourth-quarter interception on a pass intended for wide receiver Jahan Dotson at the New York 9-yard line – the first of the season for quarterback Jalen Hurts that cornerback Cor'Dale Flott returned 68 yards to the Philadelphia 23-yard line and led to a New York touchdown – was the sequence that was the stamp on a rough outing, but there were other issues that led to the 34-17 loss, the Eagles' second straight of the season.

Here are some observations from the dreary night that dropped the Eagles to 4-2 for the year ...

1. Third downs were killer

New York converted 11 of 16 third downs and just made plays behind rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart. The Eagles struggled against a Giants offense that piled up 366 total net yards, and 25 first downs, against a defense that was without tackle Jalen Carter (heel injury, inactive for the game) and lost cornerback Quinyon Mitchell (hamstring) early on.

The Giants converted 9 of their first 13 third downs on the way to a 17-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, consistently playing ahead of the sticks, running the football effectively, getting play after play from Dart, and having answers for the Eagles defense.

Jalen Hurts and the Eagles' offense went 1-of-9 on third down. More on that later.

2. Quarterback Jaxson Dart was the best player on the field

Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio said earlier in the week that he was impressed with Dart, the Giants' first-round draft pick. Dart was terrific, and he deserves credit. He completed 17 of 25 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown, but those numbers don't give him due credit. Dart was cool when the Eagles pressured him and his poise in and out of the pocket scrambling and running the football – Dart gained 58 yards and a touchdown on 9 runs, some of them designed and some of them using his creativity – gave the defense fits.

3. New York came out flying and didn't let up

The Eagles took the opening kickoff and Saquon Barkley ripped off gains of 18 yards and 13 yards and reached New York territory, and after a Jake Elliott field goal gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead, the Giants came out and made a statement. New York put together back-to-back touchdown drives – the first one a 6-play, 59-yard drive that featured a 34-yard pass to wide receiver Lil' Jordan Humphrey and then a Dart scramble from 20 yards out to put the ball in the end zone, and the second one a 4-play, 66-yard drive that featured a pair of completions to wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson for gains of 26 yards and a scoring strike of 35 yards. New York didn't have its star wide receiver Malik Nabers, who is out for the season with a knee injury, and veteran Darius Slayton, who missed the game with a hamstring injury. Didn't matter. Robinson had 6 catches for 84 yards on seven targets and Lil' Jordan Humphrey grabbed 4 passes for 55 yards.

That put the Eagles' defense on its heels and it never recovered. The Giants finished with 366 total net yards as mentioned above, including 172 on the ground, and scored on all three trips into the Eagles' red zone.

4. Taking a look at the Eagles' third-down offense

Philadelphia converted just 1-of-9 third downs in the loss. In order, they had third and ... 10 yards, 8 yards, 7 yards, 1 yard, 10 yards, 6 yards, 7 yards, 12 yards, and 3 yards. That's an average of 7.1 yards to go on third down.

A lot of good things happened in the first half as the Eagles piled up 224 total net yards as Hurts completed 14-of-18 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown. Barkley had some good numbers, gaining 56 yards on 8 carries. Hurts finished 24-of-33 passing for 283 yards, a touchdown, and the interception. Too often though, the Eagles found themselves playing behind the sticks and could not sustain drives.

Barkley finished with 12 carries and 58 yards and the Eagles did not score in the second half.

5. Eagles lose the turnover game

This doesn't happen often, but it sure hurt the Eagles on Thursday night. They lost the turnover battle, 0-2, with the Hurts interception and a fumble by running back A.J. Dillon.

And for a second straight game, the Eagles did not take the football away. The Eagles usually feast on rookie quarterbacks, but Dart was on top of everything in this game.

6. The return game struggled

There were 10 offensive possessions for the Eagles and the best field position they had was the 40-yard line after New York kicked the opening kickoff out of bounds. After that, the kickoff return team gave the offense the ball at the 29-yard line, the 25-yard line, the 7-yard line, the 30-yard line, and the 5-yard line.

7. Missed opportunities hurt, too

The interception in Giants territory was a crusher as the Eagles were moving the ball and had a chance to cut the deficit to three points with a touchdown and a PAT. Instead, New York took it the other way for a touchdown to lead by 17 points.

But the Eagles had other chances. The opening possession was promising, but then it stalled after the big Barkley runs. Hurts just missed an open DeVonta Smith on a play that might have resulted in a long touchdown catch and run.

The defense didn't tackle as well as it had shown through five games and gave up big plays in the passing game of 35, 34, 36, and 22 yards.

Penalties hurt as well – the Eagles were penalized 5 times for 84 lost yards and included in that was a costly pass interference penalty in the end zone that led to a touchdown, a facemask penalty on the defense, an unnecessary roughness call on a punt return, and an illegal contact penalty.