What Eagles’ OL loves so much about Saquon Barkley – NBC Sports Philadelphia

On November 16, 2024By Littum

It was hard sledding.

Through three quarters Thursday night, Saquon Barkley averaged just 3.5 yards per carry. carry, and it looked like it just wasn’t going to be one of those special performances for the Eagles’ very special running back.

But Barkley never lost faith that he would break it up.

And then he did.

“When things weren’t going well, he said, ‘Come on, keep attacking, O-line, keep attacking, it’s going to break open for us, it’s going to break open,'” veteran right tackle Lane Johnson said. “And it eventually did. That’s the kind of guy he is. When things don’t go well, I think that’s when you really tell a lot about a person. And he never wavered.”

Barkley went for 76 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns in the fourth quarter to help the Eagles take down the Commanders 26-18 in a key NFC East game on Thursday Night Football.

Give Kellen Moore credit for sticking with the race. Give the offensive line credit for blocking. But give Barkley credit for never losing faith. Because according to his offensive linemen, it went a long way Thursday night.

When asked how Barkley is when things aren’t going well in the running, Jordan Mailata said the star running back is “very encouraging.”

“His will and will is on display 24/7,” Mailata said. “It doesn’t stop, it doesn’t falter. He is very encouraging, always talking to us, always communicating about what he is looking at what he wants. And as an offensive line, you love it. Only the communication side, the honesty. And it’s Saquon Barkley, man, no matter what he says, you’re like, ‘Yes, sir.’

Barkley finished with 146 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on 26 carries, and he added 2 catches for 52 yards on top.

Through 10 games this season, Barkley has gone over 100 rushing yards in six. That’s the most 100+ yard games ever by an Eagles running back through 10 games.

And the crazy thing is, on Thursday night, it just looked like it wasn’t going to happen.

Quarters 1-3: 20 carries, 70 yards (3.5)

4th Quarter: 6 carries, 76 yards (12.7), 2 TD

Barkley busted touchdown runs of 23 and 39 yards in the fourth quarter. He is the first Eagles player to have two 20+ yard touchdown runs in the same game since LeSean McCoy in the 2013 Snow Bowl against the Lions.

And Barkley also reached 20+ mph on both of those touchdown runs, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. He now has six such runs this season, tops in the NFL.

“Eventually, after a while,” Johnson said, “it will break up for you.”

Although Barkley is not the captain of the 2024 Eagles after joining the team as a free agent, he clearly has strong leadership qualities. The Eagles have seen them all season.

“I think what continues to impress me is that every time we go out on the sidelines and something doesn’t work or something works, (Barkley) is always over there talking to us,” center Cam said Jurgens. “We’re figuring out how to make it work, what’s going on. It’s constant communication. It’s great. There’s a lot of little things that we could have done better in the first half. We stayed just know it, stay with it.”

While Barkley ended up skipping the two long touchdown runs, it was actually Kenny Gainwell who got the run going in the fourth quarter. Gainwell had three straight runs in the fourth quarter for a total of 34 yards to help set up the Eagles’ go-ahead touchdown.

As a team, the Eagles had 111 rushing yards through the first three quarters, but added 117 in the fourth to give them a 228-yard performance on the night. They have now topped 200 rushing yards three times during their six-game hitting streak since the bye.

What’s the key to the strong rushing performance in the fourth quarter?

“To be honest, I think it’s just will,” Mailata said. “You have to want it more than the other team. I think that’s what it’s all about. We could talk about X’s and O’s, but we always talk about “must-have-it” moments. It comes down to will. Do you want to do it? Do you want it? I think we showed out there on film that we wanted it more.”

No one wanted it more than Barkley. And he never doubted that it would come.