As the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, snapping a two-game losing streak that saw the team regress, the passing attack was a highlight for the game. Despite the bounce-back game for the Eagles against the Vikings, it was another lackluster outing for Saqon Barkley and the running attack.
In total, Barkley rushed for 44 yards on 18 carries, averaging 2.4 yards per attempt, as the star running back is still without a 100-yard performance after rushing for a whopping 2,000 yards last season. Barkley would say after the game that he takes accountability for the 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 looks to bounce back on his own, Philadelphia's game through the air was productive as quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns, leading to huge outings for receivers DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown. At the end of the day, Barkley is glad the team got the win as he noticed the “joy of winning” was lost for a bit, according to NJ.com.
“We won a football game and it feels really good to win again,” Barkley said. “I 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 beating the Vikings, it still will be important for the coaching staff and Barkley to fix the running game and get it back to the level it was last season. While Barkley owns up to it, Hurts would say it is 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. Every one is involved in that. Every one has to look and say, ‘Well, how can we help get something going the way it needs to go?’ And offensively, as a unit, it doesn’t matter how it looks. And 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 is 5-2 as Barkley looks to excel against the New York Giants next Sunday.
