Just when you thought Saquon Barkley's numbers couldn't get worse, THIS happened

Just when you thought Saquon Barkley's numbers couldn't get worse, THIS happened originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

We all just keep waiting for it to get better, and here we are almost a quarter of the way through the season and it’s not getting better. 

It’s actually getting worse.

Saquon Barkley ran 19 times for 43 yards Sunday in the Eagles’ win over the Buccaneers in Tampa, an anemic 2.3 yards per carry. He’s now averaging 3.1 yards per carry this year – 2nd-worst by any Eagles back since 1991. In 2014, LeSean McCoy was at 2.8 through four games, although he finished with over 1,300 yards and a 4.2 average.

Barkley averaged 2.6 yards last Sunday in the win over the Rams, and he’s the first Eagles back in 16 years with consecutive games with at least 15 carries and a 2.6 average or worse. In 2009, Brian Westbrook averaged 1.9 and 2.0 in playoff wins over the Vikings and Giants. You have to go back to Duce Staley in 2001 to find the last time it happened in the regular season.

This is a guy who set an NFL record with over 2,500 yards last year.

What on Earth is happening here?

“That’s what happens when you have the year that we had last year and you got a year of tape,” Barkley said Sunday afternoon in the visiting locker room at Raymond James Stadium.

“We’ve got to do a better job of adjusting to that and having answers to that, and I’ve got to do a better job.

“The running game always starts with me, so I’m a big believer in that, and when the game is going (or) when it’s going bad, I own it and I said I’d be better, but the beauty of it is we’re not running the ball too great and we’re still 4-0.”

Barkley is being accountable and he’s being a sound leader and he’s being a good teammate. But these issues go way behind Saquon not running as well as last year.

The offensive line just isn’t the same. Lane Johnson has had to leave the last two games with injuries, Tyler Steen has been OK but isn’t playing up to the level that Mekhi Becton did, and Landon Dickerson is clearly hindered by injuries as well but continues to grind.

And the play calling has ranged from poor to lackluster for much of these first four games, and that certainly hasn’t done Barkley any favors.

Whatever it is, this is not the Saquon Barkley anybody expected.

“I’ve got to do a better job of getting into a flow and get into a rhythm of the game,” he said. “My focus is right now I’m not doing a great enough job on first downs and just trying to keep us in manageable downs in the second down, so I’ve got to do a better job.”

How can he play better?

“”Get more yards,” he said. “You know, if it’s a zero-yard gain, make it a three-yard gain. If it’s three yards, make it a six-yard gain. I’ve got to do a better job of that.”

This time last year, Barkley had 435 rushing yards and 6.0 yards per carry. This year, he has 237 yards and 3.1 per carry.

He still doesn’t have a run longer than 16 yards. 

“There’s a couple of runs where if I did that or if I did this, it could have been a big run,” he said Sunday. “But that’s football, and defenses that we’ve been playing have been doing a great job.”

Even with Jalen Hurts’ rushing yards, the Eagles are still at just 3.5 yards per carry going into Week 5.

They’re the first NFL team to be 4-0 despite averaging 3.5 or worse since the 2019 Patriots. It’s their worst average through four games since 2015, when their lead running backs were DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews.

Barkley said it’s hard for him to be too disappointed because the Eagles are unbeaten, one of only two 4-0 teams in the NFL. And they’re 21-3 since he got here.

“I like winning, I like winning football,” Barkley said. “I don’t know, that’s just me. I like winning football games and I don’t care what it looks like, whether it’s me rushing for 20 yards or me rushing for 200 yards. Whatever it takes. I don’t care if the score is 6-3or 36-4. We’re 4-0.”

Barkley did have four catches for a season-high 31 yards, giving him 74 scrimmage yards. So there’s that. And he scored his third touchdown on a fake tush push.

So it hasn’t been a total disaster.

But it’s been close.

“We’ve just got to continue to … find – I hate using this word – but our identity within the offense and in the run game,” Barkley said. “And that’s what the season’s for.

“We’re going to continue to get better. We’ve got guys that want to continue to get better and want to be great, and are going to continue to buy in. So just looking forward to next week.”

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