PHILADELPHIA — Saquon Barkley’s closing play Sunday was, appropriately, a handoff.
The Eagles working again left the Siberian swirl taking place on the sphere and ran up the locker room tunnel, a cluster of handlers and TV cameras in his wake.
Simply earlier than he made a tough left to go to the locker room, he handed a commemorative NBC soccer to the younger son of the gear supervisor. The child was awestruck, delighted and slack-jawed as he held up the souvenir for images.
Clearly, Barkley doesn’t want the souvenir or accolades. Already, these are pouring in. Plus, the job isn’t achieved. The Washington Commanders are coming to city Sunday for the NFC Championship, an I-95 showdown with a visit to the Tremendous Bowl at stake.
“Whether it’s the national spotlight or we’re playing out in the parking lot, it doesn’t matter,” Barkley stated. “I just want to make plays for the team.”
In his two video games in opposition to the Commanders this season, which the groups cut up, Barkley gained 150 and 146 yards, scoring a pair of touchdowns in every.
Barkley was constructed for this. He’s having one of many biggest seasons of any participant, at any place, in NFL historical past. The chants of MVP pouring down from the frigid higher reaches of Lincoln Monetary Discipline had been genuinely-earned, notably after his 205-yard speeding efficiency in a 28-22 victory over the Rams within the divisional spherical.
On the type of day that NFL Movies voice-of-God John Facenda would have liked, in a snow globe of a stadium, Barkley was all however unstoppable.
“It’s what you’ve been seeing all year,” Eagles guard Mekhi Becton stated of the working again who spent the primary chapter of his profession with the New York Giants. “It’s just rinse and repeat. He’s a dog. We’ve been saying it since he was in New York. Ain’t nothing new.”
Definitely not new to the Rams, who had been trampled for 255 yards speeding and 302 all-purpose yards once they confronted that human Acela practice in late November.
The Eagles’ Saquon Barkley runs for a few of his 205 yards speeding in opposition to the Rams.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Occasions)
Barkley is the fifth participant in league historical past with a number of 200-yard speeding video games in opposition to the identical staff in the identical season, becoming a member of Tennessee’s Derrick Henry (versus Houston in 2020), Miami’s Jay Ajayi (vs. Buffalo, 2016), Baltimore’s Jamal Lewis (vs. Cleveland, 2003) and Buffalo’s O.J. Simpson (vs. New England, 1973).
The Rams did what they may to maintain Barkley below wraps.
“They loaded the box, they created movement up front,” left sort out Jordan Mailata stated. “You have to do that against us. And that’s a great D-line. I ain’t gonna lie. They did a great job of playing downhill, making sure we weren’t getting up there and clearing them out.”
The Rams put every kind of defensive warmth on the Eagles, even with out standout rookie defensive finish Braden Fiske, sidelined early with a knee damage. They sacked Jalen Hurts seven occasions, simply as they introduced down Minnesota’s Sam Darnold 9 occasions in final week’s wild-card sport.
Nonetheless, corralling Barkley was a completely totally different problem. He had a 62-yard landing run within the first quarter, and a 78-yarder within the fourth.
On that second rating, TV cameras had a close-up of Barkley casually saying one thing to Hurts simply earlier than the snap. Seems that even when he was incorrect, Barkley wound up proper.
“I think I was on the wrong side,” Barkley stated with a smile. “That one worked out pretty well. That was the conversation we were having.”
On the primary landing, Barkley glanced again as he neared the objective line and observed the participant in closest pursuit was rookie Jared Verse, who made headlines within the week earlier than the sport by saying he hated Eagles followers. So Barkley performed a little bit cat and mouse with him, slowing only a bit earlier than stepping on the gasoline once more and scoring.
On the second landing, Barkley had a 15-yard lead on any defenders as soon as he crossed the 50, so he gleefully slapped his personal helmet a few occasions as he cruised down the sphere.
He has had 5 speeding touchdowns of no less than 60 yards this season, and three of these got here in opposition to the Rams. His first landing of the day broke a tie with Adrian Peterson (2012) and Jim Brown (1963) for probably the most such touchdowns in a single season.
“It’s always fun when you’re blocking your man and you see two-six running by you,” Becton stated of Barkley, who wears 26. “It’s a great feeling.”
