Eagles' secret weapon to rebirth of rushing attack revealed after Giants trashing

Lincoln Financial Field was electric in Week 8 as Philadelphia Eagles fan base left the 38-20 win over the New York Giants with a new sense of hope after a stellar day running the ball, but one key player helped with it.

Eagles running backs Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby each ran for over 100 yards in the game, with Barkley leading the way at 150 and one touchdown. Bigsby got his number called more in the second half after Barkley's groin injury as he managed to get 104 yards on just nine carries.

At the end of the game, the Eagles finished with 33 carries for 276 yards and a touchdown on the ground. That's an average of 8.4 yards per carry in the win.

So what sparked the running game to get rolling? Was it Barkley and Bigsby just catching fire at the right time, or could it be another player who stepped up?

Eagles found their secret weapon in the running game

Remember that trade before the regular season when Eagles general manager Howie Roseman got offensive lineman Fred Johnson back from the Jacksonville Jaguars? That trade continues to be the best move Roseman has made all year.

Johnson was the hero in the Los Angeles Rams game as he replaced Lane Johnson's replacement, Matt Pryor, at right tackle. That move helped spark a massive second-half comeback to beat Los Angeles at home in Week 3.

Now moving forward to Week 8, Fred Johnson was back at it again. This time, he was asked to be the sixth lineman, or what his teammates called him, "an honorary tight end," to help in the running game.

Out of the 33 runs the Eagles fans, Johnson was on the field for 12 of them. The Eagles ran for a staggering 129 yards, an average of 10.75 yards per carry.

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This has become the recipe for success with the running game. With the cat out of the bag, though, expect Johnson's role to be a little different moving forward in the jumbo package.