Larry Henry Jr
On the same day that the Philadelphia Eagles added one of the NFL’s modern day star running backs to their Hall of Fame, their current running back delivered his best performance yet for the team.
Saquon Barkley exploded for 199 total yards and two touchdowns on 30 touches as the Eagles held off the Jacksonville Jaguars 28-23 to move to 6-2 this season. In the presence of longtime Eagles tailback LeSean “Shady” McCoy, who entered the Eagles Hall of Fame on Sunday, Barkley delivered one of the more special plays of the current NFL season.
With the Eagles holding a 7-0 lead in the second quarter, quarterback Jalen Hurts dumped the ball off to Barkley out wide, before watching the veteran tailback do the rest. Barkley juked one Jaguar defender, before spinning left and completing a backwards hurdle over another would-be tackle to provide the team with a key first down.
The play not only pumped up Lincoln Financial Field but was provided a resemblance of former Detroit Lions star Barry Sanders, who was known for his shifty running and skillful moves in open space.
“It was the best play I’ve ever seen,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said about Barkley’s play. “And I had no choice but to give him, I’ve been giving out game balls this year for special plays. Obviously, [LB] Nakobe [Dean] gets one. Ends the game with I guess would you call it a walk-off interception? It guess you would call it that. Even though you’ve got to take three knees. They should allow you to go to the next play. But Saquon’s play, what I think is so cool, is there are going to be kids all over the country and all over Philadelphia, I really think about that, trying to make that play and talking about that play and simulating that play as they play backyard football or Pee Wee Football.
“They aren’t going to be able to make it because I think he’s the only one in the world that can do that,” he added. “I’m speechless. It was unbelievable, and the way the crowd, when I looked up, like I thought I saw what I saw. As a coach you’re looking at the line sometimes, looking at the secondary, looking at the defense. And so, I thought I saw it, but when I looked up at the big screen and the crowd reacted to it, it was unbelievable. I can’t say enough about how athletic he is.”
SAQUON BARKLEY IS NOT OF THIS WORLD.
📺: #JAXvsPHI on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/UtCENDw6no— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2024
Barkley entered Sunday’s game with six appearances of 100+ all-purpose yards or more this season. He also added a receiving touchdown to his statistics on Sunday, once again showing his versatility in the Eagles backfield.
The former Penn State star has already eclipsed 1000+ yards this season with the Eagles, helping solidify the offense and take the pressure off of Hurts. With the Eagles now 6-2 heading into a crucial NFC East trip to rivals Dallas next Sunday, Barkley will need to remain equally as important if Philadelphia wants to keep up their winning streak and stay in touching distance of first place Washington.
“We knew he was special,” Sirianni said when asked if the Eagles knew about special Barkley was from past performances. “Just when you’re preparing to play against special players in this league, they tend to take so much of your time up of you thinking about them and you preparing to stop them. So, we knew he was special. I think when you’re around him on a daily basis it’s safe to say, yes, that he’s even more special than I could have even imagined. It’s with everything though. I can’t say enough about Saquon the leader, the worker, the teammate. It was just unbelievable that play. I think it’s fair to say that he’s even more special than I ever thought.
“God has blessed [Eagles RB] Saquon [Barkley] with some special things,” Hurts said. “I really genuinely pray he continues to use those things and the fullness of him and give him the glory with that because there’s special stuff he’s capable of doing. So we just need him to continue to be that type of player.”
You can follow Larry Henry on Twitter (@lhenry019) and e-mail him at [email protected].
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