So I caught some heat from a few members of the “Me First” Eagles’ fanbase for coming down hard on them for what I deemed unparalleled idiocy and over-reaction culture with regards to their response to the Eagles decision to rest most of their starters this weekend including Saquon Barkley, who is just 101 yards shy of breaking a 40 year old rushing record set by the Rams Eric Dickerson back in 1984. But before we get into that let’s take a look at week 18 in Philadelphia at a glance as Giants’ week wraps up a very successful regular season in South Philly.
The Basics: Giants at Eagles
- Who: Giants (3-13, 2-5 Away) at Eagles (13-3, 7-1 Home)
- When: Sunday 1 p.m. ET
- Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
- TV: CBS
- Betting: Eagles -1.5 ; Money Line: Eagles -122, Cowboys -109
Heavy on Eagles Game Day Rant: Less Work and No Play Makes Saquon a More Dangerous Boy
Let me say this about that. On the list of things I don’t care about, what the knuckle head faction of Eagles fans that didn’t appreciate me opinion, is at the top. In yesterday’s post I stated in no uncertain terms that I’m on your side.
But I get paid to be the accountability police and while I get the euphoria regarding the feeling Saquon’s proximity to the rushing record, that has a waft of a Santa Claus rally, has given most football fans, there are certainly bigger fish to fry and more dangerous dragons to slay for this Eagles team. That’s why Birds’ head coach Nick Sirianni gets paid upwards of 7 million per year to make the tough decisions on the field and off for the betterment of the team. His job to keep all eyes down field on the team goal of winning a Super Bowl.
The decision by the Eagles brass to rest Barkley along with most of the other Eagle starters came down on Thursday. Barkley had a very honest reaction to the news.
“He (Sirianni) asked me if I wanted to play, if I wanted to go for it. On Sunday, I probably didn’t care too much for it,” Barkley said. “When I slept on it, was like, it’s an opportunity to implant my name in football history. I may never get another opportunity like that again.”
“So I’m down. But at the end of the day, I don’t care for putting the team at risk.”
I like that he said he’s down. I want my guys to be hungry and ambitious but there’s a reason Birds’ head coach Nick Sirianni wears the top hat in the Eagles’ locker room. Professional athletes are an elite group. They are young, talented and highly competitive. And many tend to have Superman complexes. While Barkley is the closet thing we’ve seen to Clark Kent’s alter-ego since Randall Cunningham was slinging it back in the early 90’s, sometimes a coach needs to save a player from himself.
Barkley’s Odyssey
Barkley’s first season in Philadelphia has been epic. Let’s take a look back at the human highlight’s highlight reel that started a continent away in what now seems like a lifetime ago..
- Week 1 – Barkley scores thrice in his debut in Brazil in a win over the Green Bay Packers.
- Week 3 – at New Orleans Barkley gets the Birds on the board with at 65-yard touchdown run, his first of two in the fourth quarter to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
- Week 7 – in his return to MetLife Stadium Barkley rushes for 176 yards and touchdown in a 28-3 Eagles victory.
- Week 9 – albeit just a 14 yard pick-up on a check down screen pass, Barkley hurdles backwards over a Jacksonville defender in what many think was the play of the year.
- Week 11 – Barkley explodes for two fourth quarter touchdowns explosion in a 28-16 win over the Washington Commanders.
- Week 12 – Barkley sets a franchise record as he rushes for 255 yards including two 70-yard touchdown runs in a 37-20 win over the Rams.
- Week 14 – Barkley sets a new Eagles single-season rushing record with a 124 yard performance against the Panthers.
- Week 17 – Barkley becomes the ninth player in NFL history to eclipse the 2000 yard mark in a season with 167 yards in an NFC East clinching 41-7 win over the Cowboys. He currently is at 2,005 yards.
All of those are individual moments of accolades and excellence never seemed to take Barkley’s focus on the ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl. I understand his desire to make history on another level but the reality is that Barkley has already rushed 50 more times than in his previous six seasons in the league and his 345 carries right now are more than any other running back not named Derrick Henry in the last 10 years.
One of the reasons the Giants were hesitant to give Saquon his full market value is that according to their analytics, running backs historically start to decline at the age of 27. Barkley turned 27 last February.
There is a reason that nobody in the 2000 yard club ever hit that mark again. In fact there is precedent that the high workload that yielded those historic seasons had an adverse effect on the respective careers of those nine record holders.
Exhibit A
Adrian Peterson rushed for 2097 yards on 348 carries in 2012. It was his career high in attempts in a 19 year career. The following year he missed two games and only rushed for 1266 yards. He followed that up by playing just one game in 2014 followed by a full season in 2015 when he rushed for 1485 yards on 327 attempts and ever even sniffed anything close to 2000 yards again. In fact he played 10 more seasons averaging just 387 yards and was riddled with injuries until he retired in 2022.
Exhibit B
Terrell Davis rushed for 2008 yards on 392 carries in 1998. The Broncos had nothing to play for in the season finale but Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan decided to play his starters and go after the 2000 yard mark for Davis. It took Davis 29 carries to eclipse the 2000 yard mark as he rushed for 178 yards against the Seattle Seahawks. In the following three years Davis played in 17 games and rushed for a total of 1194 yards total in those 17 games spread out over his final three years. The Broncos did go on to win the Super Bowl in 1998, the year Davis broke the 2000 yard mark. To date he is the only one of the nine members of the 2000 yard club to go on to win the whole thing in the same year that he rushed for over 2k.
Exhibit C
In 2003 the Ravens Jamal Lewis rushed for 2066 yards on 387 carries. The following year he missed four games due to injury and barely broke the 1000 yard mark. He only missed one game the following year but only rushed for 906 yards. Lewis only played six more seasons following his 2ooo yar year in 2003 and only played the full 16 games twice and in those two full seasons averaging just 1,067 yards, about half of his total in his historic season of 2003.
Now let me bring this home. Remember Demarco Murray? Yeah, I know, most of Eagles’ Nation would probably like to forget him. Murray in his last year as a Cowboy logged 392 carries in 2014 as he rushed for a career best 1845 yards. All told Murray recorded 499 touches that year in his swan song in Dallas. Chip Kelly signed him that offseason but Murray only started eight games for Philly and rushed for just 792 yards on 193 carries. He played two more full seasons with the Titans And averaged 973 yards before retiring after just seven years in the league.
The Birds haven’t had a bye week since late September. The decision to rest Barkley today is not just what’s best for the Eagles this year, but is probably what’s best for Saquon and the team in future years. Barkley maybe in the same class as the Ravens’ Derrick Henry in terms of durability and sheer toughness. It remains to be seen. I wouldn’t put it past him as he is a very special football player. I also wouldn’t put it past him if he does get another shot at running back immortality. It certainly will be something to look forward to for years to come. My advice for Eagles’ Nation is to not lament what Saquon doesn’t accomplish today, but rather be thankful for what he has accomplished in this epic Eagles’ season so far.
