PHILADELPHIA — Saquon Barkley is in the midst of the best season for a running back in Philadelphia Eagles history, and the franchise has had plenty of good running backs over their 91 years of existence.
Barkley is already third in franchise history for single-season rushing yards with 1,499, just 109 yards away from passing LeSean McCoy for the most in a season in Eagles history. And Barkley still has five games to play.
Barkley is in pursuit of 2,000 rushing yards as well, as he is 501 yards away from that mark. He’s also 606 yards away from passing Eric Dickerson for the most rushing yards in a season in NFL history (2,105).
As Barkley is in pursuit of those records, he’s well aware they exist and in striking distance of rewriting the record books.
“When I got here, I looked up the history of the Eagles running backs,” Barkley said. “I wasn’t familiar with Wilbert Montgomery…so I even got to do a dive on him. Learn about him and [Brian] Westbrook and Shady [LeSean McCoy]. That’s your goal. You want to come in here and leave a legacy on a place, on a franchise.”
Barkley had these same goals in New York, but he admitted he “came up short.” Tiki Barber had the franchise record for rushing yards in a season (1,860 in 2005), and the most Barkley had in a season was 1,312 (2022). That doesn’t appear to be the case with the Eagles, especially since Barkley has been averaging 124.9 rushing yards per game with the Eagles.
“I’m aware of that, but that’s not my driving factor of it,” Barkley said. “The driving factor is to win football games, put ourselves in position to make a run, and go win it all.
“But I am aware of the things I can accomplish. But the way I accomplish them is by sticking to the script.”
How has Barkley prepared himself for the stretch run ahead? The Eagles face four of the six worst run defenses over the final five games of the season, starting with the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Carolina allows 166.8 rushing yards per game (32nd in the nFL), but the momentum doesn’t stop there.
Run defenses Eagles face rest of season
| Team | Rush yards allowed per game |
|---|---|
Panthers | 166.8 (32nd) |
90.5 (4th) | |
137.0 (27th) | |
147.6 (31st) | |
Ginats | 145.8 (29th) |
Barkley has admitted to making changes in his routine for the final stretch of games in December and January. He has averaged 73.3 rush yards per game from games 13-17, the lowest of his splits amongst the four quarter points of the season (1-4, 5-8, 9-12, etc.).
“That’s kind of been my biggest focus, how consistent can I be? How long can I stick to the process,” Barkley said. “Each week is going to present different challenges, but I’m still sticking to the script, and getting ready for the games.
“They do a really good job here of listening to the science, listening to the data, and I’ve been doing a really good job of buying in to everything they want me to do. At this point, my body feels really good. I feel as fresh as you possibly could for a Week 14.”
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Author: Jeff Kerr
December 5, 2024 | 1:35 pm
