While the Philadelphia Eagles opened their Super Bowl championship defense with four wins in five games, Eagles fans and fantasy football owners have repeatedly mentioned since early September that Philadelphia running back Saquon Barkley has yet to look like an elite offensive weapon this fall.
As ESPN’s Tim McManus shared on Thursday, Barkley recently opened up about his production over the ongoing campaign’s first five weeks compared to what he accomplished en route to becoming a first-time Super Bowl champion.
Football is not easy, even for Saquon Barkley
“Every year is not going to be like how I had it last year,” Barkley acknowledged. “It shouldn’t be like that. Football is not easy, football’s hard. It’s a tough sport. You’re going up against a lot of talented players. It’s something you’ve got to love. Just as much as you love rushing for 200 yards and scoring three touchdowns, you have to enjoy your process even when things aren’t going the way you want them to go. You go back to your process and you let those things take over and eventually, it’s going to turn.”
The StatMuse website shows that Barkley earned Offensive Player of the Year Award honors for the 2024 season after he led the league with 2,005 rushing yards and 2,283 yards from scrimmage. To compare, Fox Sports noted that Barkley entered the “Thursday Night Football” game at the 1-4 New York Giants on pace to finish the 2025 campaign with approximately 908 rushing yards. At that same time, he was 21st in the league with 395 yards from scrimmage.
How Saquon Barkley wants Eagles to respond to opponents “focusing on the run game”
After the Eagles suffered a 21-17 home loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 5, Barkley, quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receiver A.J. Brown “had a long, positive conversation” regarding the club’s offensive struggles that “lasted a couple hours.” Against Denver, Barkley notched a 47-yard receiving touchdown in the contest’s third quarter.
“I think that’s something that we can continue to expand on, especially with a lot of teams focusing on the run game,” Barkley said about possibly having a larger role in the Philadelphia passing attack. “I feel like I am a mismatch against linebackers, but we have so many talented players here.”
Barkley added that he is “in the business of winning football games” and not “in the business of, ‘What, are we doing enough?'” Perhaps Thursday’s prime-time matchup against the Giants, his former club, will prove to be the get-right game the Philadelphia offense needs this fall.