When Saquon Barkley glanced up at a SoFi Stadium replay of his latest huge run for the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night, he happened to see a graphic indicating he had 173 yards rushing — only 16 shy of what he knew to be his career high.
"I said, 'Aw, I wish I never saw that,'" Barkley said with a grin. "That's just the devil talking, that's how I look at it. … I'm a big believer that if it happens, it happens. Just let it come to you."
Barkley decided to continue to run for his teammates, not for records. A few carries later, both his personal best and several additional superlatives fell right to him with his second massive touchdown run on a historic night.
Barkley ran for scores of 70 and 72 yards in the second half and finished with an Eagles-record 255 yards rushing in Philadelphia's seventh consecutive victory, 37-20 over the Los Angeles Rams.
Barkley racked up the ninth-most yards rushing in a game in NFL history largely thanks to his huge TD runs bookending the second half. He sprinted for a 70-yard score on the opening snap of the third quarter, and he added another huge run up the middle with 2:44 to play.
"Saquon has that ability to hit home runs, and so sometimes that's how it goes," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. "You get some short gain, short gain, short gain — boom, home run. Saquon is that type of player, and our offensive line did a good job of handling the variations of the front."
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Barkley had 302 total yards — becoming the 12th player in NFL history to top 300, and the first Eagles player — while also becoming the first NFL player with two 70-yard TD runs in a game since Maurice Jones-Drew in 2009.
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Barkley leads the league with a career-best 1,392 yards rushing, including a league-best seven 100-yard rushing games in his seismic first season with Philadelphia after six frustrating years with the Giants.
"To be honest, I'm not surprised," said Barkley, a two-time Pro Bowl selection. "I didn't know I would have this much success, (but) I'm thankful to be here. I'm thankful for the fresh start. A big reason why I wanted to come here (is) I felt like this is a spot where I could rewrite my story and show everyone the type of player that I feel like I can be and was meant to be, and it's working out right now."
Saquon Barkley enters MVP conversation
With the record-setting season Barkley is having, he's being discussed as an MVP candidate.
DraftKings Sportsbook gives Barkley the third-best odds for winning MVP behind Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith said it might be a running back's time to win the MVP award.
"Don’t know about everyone else, but it might be time to hand the league MVP to a RB for a change. His name: @saquon. This brother is ridiculous," Smith said on X.
Don’t know about everyone else, but it might be time to hand the league MVP to a RB for a change. His name: @saquon. This brother is ridiculous.
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) November 25, 2024
While averaging 9.8 yards per carry, Barkley obliterated the Eagles franchise records of 217 yards rushing by LeSean McCoy in 2013 and 296 total yards by Duce Staley in 2000. He also had the biggest rushing performance ever against the Rams, exceeding DeMarco Murray's 253 yards for Dallas in 2011.
A.J. Brown caught six passes for 109 yards and a TD from Jalen Hurts, who threw for 179 yards while NFC East-leading Philadelphia (9-2) surged in a 24-point second half.
Kyren Williams rushed for a score and Demarcus Robinson caught a TD pass for the Rams (5-6), who lost their second straight home game.
Matthew Stafford passed for 243 yards while getting sacked five times by Philadelphia's top-ranked defense, and Los Angeles couldn't keep up with a Super Bowl contender in the second half of only its second loss in six games. Puka Nacua had nine catches for 117 yards, and Cooper Kupp caught a 27-yard touchdown pass with 1:07 to play.
The Los Angeles defense gave up 480 yards, undoing several weeks of progress for a unit that also looked overmatched early in the season.
"(Barkley) is getting tough, hard-earned yards, and then you give him a vertical seam like he got a couple of times," McVay said. "He has the explosiveness and long speed and the ability to finish. That is what opened and blew the game up for him. He was outstanding."
The Eagles improved to 4-0 against the Rams in the Los Angeles area since the franchise returned home, but they led just 13-7 at halftime despite dominating both sides of the ball in the second quarter.
Barkley had a mere 73 yards rushing in the first half for Philadelphia, but he broke open the game and the Rams' defense with his deft run up the middle to start the third quarter.
"He makes a cut that I didn't think anybody else could make," Sirianni said. "Like, he just stopped on a dime."
Los Angeles answered with Robinson's short TD catch, but Kenneth Gainwell rushed for a 13-yard TD moments later, one play after Barkley's 31-yard catch-and-run on third and long.
In the final minutes, Barkley found another gaping hole in the middle of Los Angeles' defense.
"One of our guys got out of the gap backside," Rams nose tackle Kobie Turner said. "Once you give that guy space to run and now he's up on the second level, he can make guys miss and has the speed to break away."
