Jalen Hurts is thankful Saquon Barkley is his Eagles teammate

In Week 12 against the Los Angeles Rams, Saquon Barkley made Jalen Hurts' life easier.

Establishing the tone early on with his commanding rushing prowess, Barkley ultimately took on much of the load for the Eagles in Week 12, with Hurts only having to throw the ball 22 times on a crisp LA night, supplementing his own production with 12 rushing attempts for 39 yards on the ground on the way to a near-20 point win.

So, with Thanksgiving right around the corner, Hurts has to be feeling pretty thankful that Howie Roseman pursued the former New York Giants running back and that Barkley actually made the jump, right? It's true, as Hurts explained during his postgame press conference.

“He's a h*ll of a player. He's a h*ll of a player and I said that. I said that after the Jacksonville game and how blessed he is to do some of many things he's capable of. When you accompany an issue with other issues, you become a problem. I think we've got a lot of talent on our team, but I think we're a force when we're all together. I think that's evident out there when we can find our rhythm in how we play and feed off one another,” Hurts told reporters.

“He set the tone for us, especially at the end. I think even these last few weeks, we've had some of those games where they kind of played out differently as the course of the game, but you think about these four-minute situations where he takes it over. I think back to…I told Saquon this, that two moments where we may have lost a game in the past or maybe mismanaged a four-minute situation where he's truly making things easier for us when it comes to how we handle four-minute situations because his capabilities, even with a loaded box and being able to hit a home run. It was a big time play from him.”

In a league that doesn't always value running backs as much as it should, Barkley's production in Philadelphia has some questioning if the NFL has focused too much on the pass instead of controlling the tempo, tenor, and time of possession of any given game on the ground. While only time will tell if this could be good news for a rusher like, say, Ashton Jeanty out of Boise State, Hurts is certainly happy to have Barkley to lean on, as it's made his life easier in Philadelphia.

Jalen Hurts believes he can build something great with Saquon Barkley

Continuing his comments on Barkley's role in the Eagles' offense, Hurts noted that he's incredibly fortunate to have a player of his caliber also in the backfield, as the duo can continue to build toward something great heading into the future.

“I think he gives me some time on the back end, but he's a h*ll of a player. I think we're fortunate. I know we're fortunate to have him. I'm fortunate to have him,” Hurts told reporters. “He's playing his tail off, and he's having fun. I think that winning is the most important thing. It's probably the second most important thing. It's relative, but he just added a new dimension for us. We just have to continue to build off of that. I think just continuing to build.”

Through the first 12 weeks of the 2024 NFL season, the one-two-punch of Hurts and Barkley has not only been incredibly challenging for opposing teams to defend but has also formed a winning strategy that has fueled a seven-game winning streak. If they can both stay healthy, the Eagles will surely go as far as Hurts and Barkley will take them in 2024.