PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles’ Saquon Barkley is having a historic season and is coming off his best game to date, a 255-yard rushing performance in a 37-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams that featured touchdowns runs of 70 and 72 yards,
It was a career-best performance for the gifted Barkley and the ninth-best rushing game in NFL history which fueled the Eagles to a seventh consecutive win en route to their 9-2 record.
The next test for Philadelphia figures to be its most difficult of the season, a short trip down I-95 to M&T Bank Stadium for a matchup with the 8-4 Ravens, perhaps the most talented team in football.
Barkley needed that 255 to leapfrog Baltimore’s own gifted runner, Derrick Henry, in what has turned into a two-horse race for the rushing title.
Barkley has already reached his career-high of 1,392 yards and 10 touchdowns on 223 carries, a 6.2 yards per clip. Henry is at 1,325 with 13 touchdowns on 221 carries, 6.0 yards per rush.
Many of the Ravens’ players were asked about Barkley and the No. 1 Eagles’ rushing attack on Wednesday.
Obviously, [Saquon Barkley] is a great running back, can get out [of] the backfield, [is] elusive, fast, strong, and they’ve got an O-Line to help him, too,” All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton said. “So, it’s going to be a challenge, but I feel like we’ve got a pretty good run [defense] ourselves.”
Odafe Oweh, a fellow Penn State alum like Barkley, understands the test.
“[Saquon Barkley]’s a great player, so [we’ll] play it honest,” Oweh said.. But also, we’re trying to take it to him as well. It’s going to be fun. Obviously, he’s a Penn State alumni like myself and a few guys on this team, so it’s going to be fun.
“It’s going to be like practice back in Beaver [Stadium].”
Two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson may be the only NFL player more dynamic than Barkley.
“I knew Saquon from high school. We were in the All-Star game together,” Jackson said. “He jumped over somebody's head, so I pretty much [saw] him before I even got to the league [or] college [or] anything. I’ve been [knowing] about Saquon.”
“King” Henry, a two-time All-Pro, called Barkley “generational.”
“I think [Saquon Barkley] is a generational back. He’s doing a hell of a job [and has] been a great back in this league since he came in,” Henry said. “He’s been playing well for them this year.”
The game is an important one for both teams when it comes to playoff positioning and Jackson tried to shift off the sizzle of Barkley vs. Henry to the steak of Eagles vs. Ravens.
“I’m not thinking about that at all. I’m trying to win,” Jackson said. “I don’t care about what everybody else is saying. I’m just trying to go in there and focus on winning the game.”
