Eagles running back Saquon Barkley has brought the noise back to Pennsylvania
Nothing can prepare you for the sound 100,000-plus fans can make at Beaver Stadium on the campus of Penn State University.
Nor can anything prepare you for what it feels like when the noise those same fans create is enough to shake the press box high above the stadium.
It was late September 2017, and Penn State hosted Indiana in an early-season Big Ten matchup. I made the trip to Happy Valley, credentials in hand, and took my seat shortly before the opening kickoff.
Saquon Barkley took that opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown, sending the crowd into a frenzy, and shaking me and everyone else in that press box:
That same electricity is back in Pennsylvania thanks to Barkley, now in his first season with the Philadelphia Eagles. And that electricity is making the running back an MVP candidate in his own right.
Barkley led the way for the Eagles in a 26-18 win over the Washington Commanders on Thursday Night Football, which moved the Eagles into first place in the NFC East and positioned the team as one of the true contenders in the conference. The running back ran for 146 yards on 26 carries, with a pair of touchdowns, and added another 52 yards receiving on a pair of catches.
On the season, Barkley leads the NFL with 1,137 rushing yards — although Derrick Henry is close behind with 1,120 and has a chance to respond in his Week 11 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday — putting him on pace to eclipse his previous career-high of 1,312, set back when he was with the New York Giants in the 2022 season. That number accounts for 63% of the team’s rushing yards. He also leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage with 1,347, although Henry will again have his chance to respond on Sunday against the Steelers.
Beyond the numbers, Barkley is the true engine of the Eagles’ offense, a fact that he showed on Thursday night against Washington. For the bulk of Thursday night’s game against the Commanders, the Philadelphia offense was struggling. Jake Elliott missed a pair of field goals, the Eagles passing game was out of rhythm, and Philadelphia took a 12-10 lead early in the fourth quarter on a tush push TD from Hurts, only to see Elliott miss the extra point.
Still, Washington had life, but that was erased in a blink thanks in large part to Barkley and the Eagles defense. The Commanders were stopped on a fourth-down try when Zack Baun and Reed Blankenship shoved rookie QB Jayden Daniels out of bounds on a run, and Philadelphia capped off their ensuing possession with this TD run from Barkley:
What stands out here is the speed, as Barkley just seems to be moving at a different pace than the Washington defenders, erasing every angle en route to the end zone.
Blankenship and the Philadelphia defense stood tall on the next Washington possession, as the safety picked off Daniels on the first play of the Commanders’ subsequent drive. Philadelphia needed just two plays to ice the game, again with Barkley leading the way:
Of note here from Barkley? His vision, and his burst, on this 39-yard TD run. First, the vision to find the cutback lane on this toss play, and then the burst to put his right foot in the turf, drive upfield, and then race away from the secondary with his second touchdown of the night, and the dagger in Washington’s hearts.
On that Saturday seven years ago I got my first taste of the noise that Saquon Barkley can create on the football field. Not just the noise that he can create when he reaches the end zone and the crowd explodes, but the noise that he can create when he simply touches the football. On that afternoon in Beaver Stadium every Barkley touch caused the crowd to hold its collective breath, waiting for the running back to do something special.
He has brought that noise to the Eagles this year, as every time he gets his hands on the football, good things happen.
That has made the Eagles contenders, and Barkley a true MVP candidate.
