PHILADELPHIA — Saquon Barkley stood on the sidelines, watching as Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, and their Eagles teammates reveled in the moment, lifting the NFC championship trophy. However, his immediate focus was on finding his family. “That was the only thing on my mind,” Barkley expressed. “I just wanted to have that moment with my family.”
Barkley made an explosive start in the NFC championship game, sprinting 60 yards on his first carry to score a touchdown, and he maintained that momentum as he set his sights on the Super Bowl. “I know I’ve never been there,” he shared, “But I’ve been there so many times in my head.” Barkley concluded the game with an impressive 118 rushing yards and three touchdowns, earning cheers of “MVP! MVP!” with each score, leading the Eagles to a decisive 55-23 victory over the Washington Commanders.
With an astonishing 2,005 rushing yards during the regular season, Barkley fell just 101 yards short of breaking Eric Dickerson’s long-standing record of 2,105 yards set in 1984 with the Los Angeles Rams. Additionally, including playoffs, he recorded a seventh rushing touchdown of over 60 yards, extending an NFL record. Moreover, he’s only 30 yards away from eclipsing Terrell Davis’ total yardage mark of 2,476 yards from the 1998 season when the Denver Broncos clinched the Super Bowl.
This time around, there’s no chance of sitting out the Super Bowl after losing his opportunity to pass Dickerson in the regular-season finale. Coach Nick Sirianni noted the challenge Barkley poses to defenses: “If Saquon gets into the second level, third level, now it’s, ‘Hey, can you tackle this guy?’ He’s hard to tackle.” While Sirianni doesn’t get a vote for MVP, he shared, “I know who my vote would be for — that’s probably why they don’t give me a vote, because I would vote for Saquon.”
Despite the Commanders’ initial field goal giving them a slight lead, the atmosphere inside Lincoln Financial Field was electric when Barkley turned the tides on the Eagles’ first offensive play. He made a sharp cut left, evaded two defenders effortlessly, and bolted to the end zone. “That’s how you start a championship game,” he remarked. “We knew that when you play a team two or three times, they start to figure some things out. We gave them a dummy call, and it worked to perfection.”
Following a recovered fumble by the Eagles, Barkley scored again with a 4-yard run, marking him at two touchdowns from two carries, giving the Eagles a 14-3 advantage. He capped off his impressive performance with another 4-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, extending the lead to 48-23.
Barkley, who previously played just two playoff games in six seasons with the New York Giants, has made quite an impact since joining the Eagles, combining for 324 rushing yards in his first two playoff games. The Eagles, often hesitant to invest heavily in running backs, have certainly benefited from their $26 million investment in Barkley, rewriting franchise records along the way.
Looking ahead, Barkley’s next challenge is in New Orleans, where he will face Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, the reigning champions. Hurts acknowledged Barkley’s contributions, saying, “He’s been paired with a great group in front of him, and I think that’s showing. He’s been able to take us to the next level in many ways, take our running game to the next level in many ways. And he’s been able to do really big, big things.”
