Ralph Vacchiano
NFL reporter
The Philadelphia Eagles hadn’t carried out a lot offensively within the first two and a half quarters Thursday night time. It was nothing however “onerous sledding” within the phrases of their coach. Washington’s new Commanders had dragged them right into a defensive recreation they did not count on to play.
That’s once they put the ball and the sport within the fingers of their finest participant.
And that is when Saquon Barkley reminded everybody why he needs to be thought of MVP of the NFL.
Barkley did what he is carried out from the second he signed that three-year, $37.75 million contract in March: He began turning the Eagles’ fortunes round. It began with a dump cross down the center of the sphere, which he become a 43-yard acquire to arrange a discipline aim. And it did not finish right here. He rushed 11 instances for 90 yards within the ultimate 17 1/2 minutes of the sport, turning a recreation the Eagles had practically misplaced right into a close to rout.
He completed that 28-26 win with 146 speeding yards and two touchdowns and 198 yards complete. It was his sixth 100-yard speeding recreation this season and fourth within the final 5 weeks. He leads the NFL in speeding with 1,137 yards in 10 video games, 175 yards shy of his profession excessive in a full season. And whereas the Eagles do not use him as a receiver as a lot as they need to, his 9.1 yards per reception are the second-best common of his seven-year profession.
Has Saquon Barkley emerged as an MVP candidate?
“I knew that man was a particular participant,” left deal with Jordan Mailata mentioned after Philly improved its document to 8-2. “The hypotheticals, the chances of what he might do behind our offensive line, you do not actually know what to anticipate till you see him, till he does one thing. But he is a particular participant, man.”
Added proper deal with Lane Johnson: “(Barkley) makes you look so much higher than possibly you’re.”
All of this alone needs to be sufficient to get the 27-year-old working again again into competition within the MVP race, which is presumably a two-horse battle in the mean time between Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and Bills quarterback Josh Allen. But if Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is a contender — and the percentages and specialists say he’s — then Barkley completely deserves consideration.
Because pretty much as good as Hurts is taking part in proper now, Barkley is what modified this Eagles crew.
Is Philly one of the best crew within the NFC?
That was at all times the plan when GM Howie Roseman bucked the league-wide pattern and spent comparatively massive cash on a working again who got here in with a ton of accidents and a ton of untapped potential. What Roseman noticed in the course of the 1-6 collapse that ruined Philly’s 2023 season was a crew that strayed from what it did finest. They ought to have been a robust crew, backed by their dominant offensive line and steamroller of a speeding assault. When they tried to be one thing else, they began to lose.
They appeared like that within the first 4 video games of this season too. New offensive coordinator Kellen Moore was placing an excessive amount of on Hurts, relying too typically on the passing assault, particularly in key conditions. It’s why the offense appeared erratic and out of sync, identical to it did below outdated offensive coordinator Brian Johnson final yr.
That’s why, throughout bye week, members of the Eagles’ offensive line knocked on Nick Sirianni’s door, begging him to recollect who the Eagles actually have been.
(Related: The newest NFL MVP odds)
The outcomes have been phenomenal. The Eagles have not misplaced since. They have averaged 389.5 yards and 28.8 factors per recreation throughout their six-game profitable streak — a rise of 24 yards and a landing per recreation since earlier than their bye. And their speeding yards per recreation elevated by practically 50, to a mean of 199.7.
They acknowledged their power. They remembered who their most harmful participant was.
“We’re racking up plenty of working yards, gaining plenty of respect,” Barkley mentioned. “That’s going to be a mentality for groups coming into the sport: Make certain you do not do this. Because once we get the working recreation going, it is fairly robust to beat our crew.”
But with Barkley it isn’t simply in regards to the numbers, though averaging 131 speeding yards over the past 5 weeks is fairly spectacular. Only the specter of a dynamic defender like him retains the protection unsure. It opens up working lanes for Hurts, who continues to be among the finest working quarterbacks within the league. It provides him room if he needs to maneuver on to what could possibly be the NFL’s finest receiver duo of AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith.
Because Barkley is the participant defenses must control all recreation, understanding that even in a recreation like Thursday night time, when nothing labored for two 1/2 quarters, he is nonetheless a menace to interrupt free.
“I suppose it takes time,” Hurts mentioned. “And after I say it takes time, it is at all times one play away. So it may be the primary contact, the second contact, or the tenth contact, or the twenty fifth contact, no matter it’s. We simply must maintain urgent.”
“That’s the great thing about soccer,” Barkley added. “You can cease us for 20-something carries, however once you screw two lengthy ones when it issues most, the stats look fairly good and more often than not you get a win.”
“You can cease us for 20-something carries, however once you get two lengthy ones when it issues most… more often than not you get a win,” Saquon Barkley says. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
That “magnificence” is, after all, within the eye of the beholder, and it is a sight Barkley has not often seen throughout his six years in New York. He was typically battered behind what was too typically the worst offensive line within the league. Playing for the Giants, it was a surprise he was as productive as he was.
That’s an enormous purpose why their GM, Joe Schoen, selected to not re-sign him, despite the fact that Giants co-owner John Mara needed Barkley again. Schoen knew that $26 million assured can be wasted cash on a luxurious like Barkley, given all the opposite points along with his roster. He additionally believes within the typical knowledge that it would not pay to make a big funding in a working again.
Roseman by no means cared a lot for typical knowledge, however he might see what Barkley might do on his all-star crew, behind among the finest traces within the NFL, even with longtime middle Jason Kelce now retired. D’Andre Swift was a pleasant working again for Philadelphia final season, nevertheless it took Barkley 10 video games to eclipse the document 1,049 speeding yards Swift had in his complete season with the Eagles. Barkley instantly raised the bar.
Has Jalen Hurts confirmed himself to be a prime 5 QB?
It’s as a result of Barkley is a particular participant, a particular athlete and a particular weapon. Roseman might see how he would make the Eagles particular once more, too. And he did it. His presence and manufacturing are as a lot accountable for this Eagles run as Hurts’ play and rejuvenated protection. And if he stays wholesome – at all times an enormous “if” with Barkley – he would be the participant who retains opposing coaches up at night time within the playoffs. He’s the one who makes the Eagles in all probability the one crew within the NFC that truly has an opportunity to compete with Detroit.
This all definitely sounds just like the definition of Most Valuable Player, despite the fact that Barkley in all probability has no likelihood of truly profitable the award. It has change into an award for one of the best quarterback within the NFL over the previous twenty years. Quarterbacks have gained it the final 11 instances and 16 of the final 17. Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson was the final working again to win it, in 2012, and beat Peyton Manning by simply 11 votes.
Barkley is extra more likely to battle Derrick Henry for the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year award, which continues to be a fairly spectacular comfort prize. But given what he is carried out for the Eagles, how he is helped flip them right into a harmful Super Bowl contender, he deserves extra. Because he is probably the most invaluable participant on among the finest groups within the league.
And earlier than it is over, it is perhaps onerous to really discover a extra invaluable participant than him within the NFL.
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He spent the earlier six years protecting the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York and, earlier than that, 16 years protecting the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
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