As the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, they snapped a two-game losing streak that had seen the team regress. One of the highlights of the game was the Eagles’ passing attack, which showed strong production throughout.
Despite the team’s bounce-back performance, it was another lackluster outing for Saquon Barkley and the running game. Barkley rushed for just 44 yards on 18 carries, averaging 2.4 yards per attempt. This marks the continued struggle for the star running back, who is still searching for his first 100-yard game after an impressive 2,000-yard season last year.
After the game, Barkley took accountability for the running game’s ineffectiveness, according to Zach Berman. “I need to do a better job of not taking negative runs. I keep saying that—I know I sound like a broken record—but it’s something I got to do. I own it. But at the end of the day, we won the football game,” Barkley said.
While Barkley works to improve his own performance, Philadelphia’s aerial attack was notably productive. Quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns, leading to standout performances from receivers DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown.
Despite the struggles on the ground, Barkley expressed his happiness with the team’s victory, noting that the “joy of winning” had been missing for a while, according to NJ.com. “We won a football game and it feels really good to win again,” Barkley said. “I thought we lost sight of the joy of winning, and I’m happy. Am I satisfied? No. We have a lot of room to improve and we’re going to go back and work on it, but it’s good to win.”
**Eagles’ Jalen Hurts Defends Saquon Barkley**
With the Eagles’ win over the Vikings, it remains crucial for the coaching staff and Barkley to fix the running game and get it back to the high level it showed last season. While Barkley owns his part, Hurts emphasized that it’s a “group effort.”
“Saquon is the best,” Hurts said. “And I don’t want him to feel like he’s carrying that by himself. It is a group effort. Everyone is involved in that. Everyone has to look and say, ‘Well, how can we help get something going the way it needs to go?’ Offensively, as a unit, it doesn’t matter how it looks. I said it’s about finding ways to win games, but we want to make sure all areas are green and in a good place.”
At any rate, Philadelphia improves to 5-2 as Barkley aims to bounce back and excel against the New York Giants next Sunday.
https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/eagles-news-saquon-barkley-owns-inconsistency-in-running-game