Saquon Barkley shreds Rams again in Eagles’ record-setting playoff win

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Saquon Barkley shreds Rams again in Eagles’ record-setting playoff win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Saquon Barkley keeps finding ways to rewrite the record book and more importantly keeps finding ways to carry the Eagles on his back.

Where would this football team be without Barkley’s electrifying playmaking?

Certainly not playing in the NFC Championship Game Sunday.

“Whether it’s in the national spotlight or a Saturday in the parking lot, it doesn’t really matter, I just want to make plays for the team,” Barkley said.

“Before (the long touchdowns), I just kind of kept telling myself, ‘Locking in, being focused,’ and the o-line did a really good job. I was able to set stuff up on my shoulders and pop two big ones. It was good.”

Barkley continued his historic season Sunday by becoming the first NFL player in 77 years with two rushing touchdowns of at least 60 yards in a playoff game, and he broke Eagles postseason records for longest TD run and most rushing yards in a game.

In another in a series of extraordinary performances, Barkley rushed 26 times for 205 yards with 62- and 78-yard touchdowns in the Eagles’ 28-22 win over the Rams in their conference semifinal game at the Linc.

He broke Steve Van Buren’s 76-year-old franchise record for most yards in a playoff game. Van Buren had 196 in the 1949 NFL Championship Game – also against the Rams – at L.A. Coliseum.

His 205 rushing yards are 5th-most in postseason history, and he now has 2,329 rushing yards including regular season and preseason, 3rd-most all-time and just 147 off Terrell Davis’s record.

How do you stop this guy?

So far, you don’t.

Barkley now has 324 rushing yards this postseason with at least one more game to go. That’s 4th-most in history by a running back in his first two playoff games in a single season. Including the regular season, he now has five TD runs of at least 60 yards, something nobody else in NFL history has ever done. His 78-yarder is 5th-longest in postseason history.

It’s not hyperbole to say that Barkley may be having the greatest season ever by a running back.

In 18 games, he’s got 2,329 yards, a 5.9 average and 17 touchdowns. Nobody else in NFL history has ever reached all those milestones in a single season.

“Knowing that if he goes untouched through the line of scrimmage, it’s a guaranteed touchdown,” Jordan Mailata said. “Guaranteed. If he goes untouched through the line of scrimmage, we know it’s a wrap.”

Counting Jalen Hurts’ 44-yard TD run in the first quarter, the Eagles became the first team with three rushing touchdowns of 40 or more yards in a playoff game since the Cardinals did it against the Eagles in the 1947 NFL Championship Game at Comiskey Park.

“Saquon needed a break,” Hurts said with a smile. “So I told him I’d do it first. Get me a piece.”

The Eagles’ 285 rushing yards are 9th-most in postseason history and gave the Eagles 599 rushing yards in two games against the Rams this year.

“There were a couple of times where we didn’t own our gaps and they took it to the house,” Rams edge Kobie Turner said. “We knew that they had home run-hitting speed, we knew that between 1 and 26, that they could take it to the house. So at the end of the day, I really think a lot of their rushing yards, a lot of the game really came down to three or so big runs that they got.

“But other than that, you know, they weren’t really getting anything.”

Other than that, they really didn’t need anything.

Once again, an unstoppable running game carried the Eagles to a huge win over a very good team.

And on we go.

Barkley and the Eagles are back at the Linc Sunday afternoon facing the Commanders with a trip to New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX at stake.

For the record, Barkley ran for 296 yards with a 5.4 average and four touchdowns in two games against Washington this year.

He’s not going away.

“We were stopping the run first off, and then let him run all over the field,” Rams edge Jared Verse said. “I’m going to say he’s the best in the league right now.”

Barkley won’t do an interview without crediting his offensive line, his teammates, the defense, Jalen Hurts, everybody on the field and in the stands.

This is a guy who played on one team with the Giants that won more than six games. Now he’s one more home win away from the Super Bowl.

“I love the support from the sidelines, from the fans,” he said. “The offense, we all were standing up, supporting our defense. And that’s what it takes, man, it takes every single one of us.

“If we wanna accomplish what we wanna accomplish, it’s gonna be a team effort and we did that today. “

Tune in to Mission 59 specials all playoffs long on NBC Sports Philadelphia, presented by Toyota.