With the Eagles win over the Rams in LA, they move to 9-2 on the season, seven of those nine wins coming in the past seven weeks. They are one of five teams with two or fewer losses, the other four being the Lions, Chiefs, Bills, and Vikings. During this streak, the Birds have looked good on both sides of the football team and are proving weekly that they're a top contender and can compete with any team in the league. Three weeks ago, the Eagles and Commanders were battling for the top spot in the NFC East, but the Birds are now three games ahead of Washington and are undefeated against division rivals this season, playing each once so far.
Saquon Barkley...
Saquon Barkley might not even be human. He does things no human should be able to do, such as breaking off TWO 70 YARD RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS in one game, becoming just the sixth player ever to do so. To put that into perspective, only five players have had a run that surpassed 70 yards. To make it even crazier, Terrell Davis, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith, Thurman Thomas, Eric Dickerson, Gayle Sayers, and Marcus Allen are all HOF running backs who didn't even have two 70-yard rushing TDs in their entire career. Saquon went on to rush for a total of 255 yards while adding 47 yards through the air. That's right, one man accounted for 302 yards in a single NFL game, the most by any player in nine years. His 255 yards on the ground are both a career-high for Barkley and the Eagles' single-game record.
Barkley is officially the top rusher in the league, with 1,392 yards on 223 attempts. He has 10 rushing TDs and two through the air. His six rushes of 40+ yards is the most of any player in the NFL, averaging 6.2 yards per carry! Barkley is on pace to break the all-time single-season rushing record currently held by Eric Dickerson, who put up 2,105 yards. Saquon is on pace for 2,151, which would barely give him the record. Through 11 games, he's run for the most yards of any season in his career. Before this season, the most he had was 1.307 in his rookie year; this is the fourth time in seven seasons that he surpassed 1,000 rushing yards. He's had 10+ rushing TDs in three seasons now, putting up 11 his rookie year and 10 in 2022; with how much time is left this season, he should crush that record. If it weren't for all those brotherly shoves, Barkley would've posted a new career high already.
Eagles Defense Shows Out Again
Despite giving up 20 points, the Eagles defense showed out yet again. The Eagles had nine defensive drives, three of which resulted in touchdowns. In those three drives, the Birds gave up 208 yards. In the six other drives, they gave up just 82 yards. The defense totaled five sacks and eight TFLs, tied for second most in a game this season. Four different Eagles recorded a sack: Nakobe Dean, Brandon Graham, Josh Sweat, and Milton Williams, the only player with two. They had 11 QB hits, Milton Williams and Brandon Graham being tied for most on the team with three each. While we're on Brandon Graham, he's officially out for the season with a tricep injury. The Eagles claimed veteran DE Charles Harris off Waivers from the Panthers to help with depth after the loss. BG is at the end of his career, so we could have seen him play his last game in the NFL.
Now, on a more positive note, the secondary had another solid performance, although the numbers might not back it up. Matthew Stafford had 243 passing yards, and only Jordan Love (260) and Baker Mayfield (347) had more against the birds this year. This was expected due to Stafford's arm and his dynamic duo of receivers in Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp. Nacua was the second receiver to break 100 yards in a game against Philly, the first being Jayden Reed, who put up 138 in Week 1. Rookie standout Quinyon Mitchell did his thing again, despite being the nearest defender to Kupp on his garbage time TD. Mitchell was in a soft zone and made a last-second attempt to help the safety stop the TD, so Sydney Brown was credited for giving up the score.
Offense's Best Performance of the Season?
We already touched on Saquon Barkley, but the offense did their thing again, tying their single-game season-high score, putting up 37 points. Also, putting up a season-high 481 total yards of offense. The Eagles' offense put points on the board in seven of their nine drives. Jalen Hurts wasn't asked to do much through the air due to Saquon Barkley's performance, but he did complete 68% of his 22 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown. He added 39 yards on his legs and was only sacked once all game. Kenneth Gainwell scored his first touchdown of the year and had 22 rushing yards, averaging 4.4 YPC. With DeVonta Smith missing the game, AJ Brown caught six of Hurts' 15 completions for 109 yards and a TD. Only four Eagles players caught a pass, with Dallas Goedert having 19 yards, Jahan Dotson having four, and Saquon Barkley being the only other player to have over 20 receiving yards with 47.
Final Score: Eagles 37, Rams 20
Dixon's Three Stars
1st Star- Saquon Barkley (255 Rushing Yards, 47 Receiving Yards, 2 Touchdowns)
2nd Star- Nakobe Dean (8 Tackles, 1 Sack, 2 TFLs, 1 FR)
3rd Star- AJ Brown (6 Receptions, 109 Yards, 1 Touchdown)
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