There's an outcry for the Eagles to become a pass-first offensive scheme, but Saquon Barkley wants to get the running game back to where it was a year ago.
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley believes the running game will recover from its slow start to the 2025 season.by the Buccaneers, the Eagles had thrown the ball 12 more times last season than they had run it as they entered their Week 5 bye.
It was during the bye that the Eagles transformed into a running team, heavily relying on the best offensive line in the NFL and the best season of running back By the end of the season, the Eagles had run the ball 230 more times than they had thrown it, set a team record for rushing yards in a season and won 16 of their final 17 games on their way toBarkley, of course, had become the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards and once you tacked on his 499 postseason yards, he hadA nice byproduct of the Eagles’ run-first offense was that it allowed them to protect the football better. They had eight turnovers and were a minus-six in the takeaway-giveaway department through the first six weeks of the season. After the bye, they had just seven turnovers and were a remarkable plus-30 in the giveaway-takeaway category. You can’t blame the Eagles for running back that formula for success at the start of this season, which they have. Through the first three weeks, they are third in the league in rushing attempts and 29th in passing attempts. They are also a plus-two in turnover differential. Most important, they will take the field Sunday for another Week 4 game with the Buccaneers down in Tampa with a 3-0 record. The Bucs are also 3-0, so it will be two hot teams in a hot and humid atmosphere. The biggest difference for the Eagles this season is that the running game hasn’t been nearly as dominant. You could argue it hasn’t even been very good. After finishing second in rushing yards last season, the Eagles are 14th in rushing yards through the first three weeks this season and their 3.7 yards per carry average is tied for 24th in the league. The Eagles have the league’s No. 27 offense and there has been a clear sense of uneasiness on that side of the football so far this season. Quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receiver A.J. Brown both made it clear after Sunday’s come-from-behind win that they feel the team needs to rely more on the passing game than they have so far this season. “I think it took long for us to be aggressive,” Brown said Wednesday. “When one thing is not working, let’s not continue to keep hitting our head on the wall and see if it’s going to work. Let’s mix it up and do what we need to do.”to do against the Rams after falling behind 26-7 early in the third quarter, but it will be interesting to see what offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo decides to do against a Tampa Bay team that has giving them fits in recent years. Barkley rightfully believes that the Eagles also need to get the running attack working at full throttle again and maybe that can best happen by attacking opponents through the air first. “Yeah, I wouldn’t disagree with that,” Barkley told NJ Advance Media. “If you pass the ball well, it opens up the run game. But if you run it well, it opens up the passing game, too. I think they go hand in hand. There’s so much more to it than that. Obviously, teams are trying to take away the run game, but it wasn’t like they were not trying to take away the run game last year.” That’s true and there were clearly times that Barkley exploited those efforts by delivering explosive runs once he got past the first level of defenders. Among the league records he set last season were his seven runs of more than 60 yards. Barkley noted after Sunday’s win over the Rams that the Eagles did not abandon the run game during their second-half rally. He ran the ball 11 times for 33 yards in the second half and that included a seven-yard carry for a first down on the Eagles’ first TD drive of the second half, carries of nine and 12 yards during their second TD drive and a four-yard run on a third-and-three play from the Los Angeles 8-yard line on the Eagles’ go-ahead TD drive. “That’s a good thing about our coaches here,” Barkley said. “They don’t just abandon the run. Obviously, we’ve got to be better and that starts with me. I’ve got to go back to the drawing board and figure it out. I’m not putting the O line in a good spot. I’ll go back and fix that.”“The thing I love about it is how passionate Jordan , Lane , Cam and all those guys are,” Barkley said. “We’ve got an O line that take pride in what they do and that’s some really good stuff. When you have that and an offensive line coach that takes pride in being dominant and being good, you know it’s going to get right. We haven’t got the run game going yet, but we’re 3-0 and that’s the thing that matters most.” If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our
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