Saquon Barkley’s biggest lesson from 1st playoff experience originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Saquon Barkley has brought up the play before. It’s one that has stuck with him.
It’s a lasting memory of a bad feeling.
A couple years ago when the Eagles stepped on the Giants on their Super Bowl march, Barkley played his first playoff game in Philly and just the second of his career. He still thinks about how close he was to breaking one.
In the third quarter, Barkley took a handoff on an inside zone run and picked up 39 yards before getting tripped up by safety Marcus Epps, who prevented an 80-yard touchdown run. It clearly bothered Barkley.
“The biggest thing to take away from that, there was a run I had against Philly in the divisional (round),” Barkley said on Friday as the Eagles prepare for their 2024 playoff run. “It was kind of late in the game, maybe makes a difference, maybe not, probably not. But I think it was (Marcus) Epps tripped my foot on a long run and those runs this year have been 60-yarders and 70-yarders.
“Allowing myself in the offseason that I probably wasn’t ready for that moment and using the whole offseason to prepare you for the whole season but also in the playoffs when it matters most to stay fresh.”
Barkley, 27, probably thinks that if that same play happens Sunday, he’ll break it for an 80-yard touchdown. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. But it’s clear that the missed opportunity a couple years ago has fueled the Eagles’ Pro Bowl running back and led to his training even harder in recent years.
This season, Barkley led the NFL with six runs of 50+ yards, double the two guys tied for second.
Barkley was thinking about that play from 2022 on Thursday as the No. 2-seeded Eagles get set to host the Green Bay Packers in the NFC divisional round on Sunday afternoon. This is just the second trip to the playoffs for Barkley in his 7-year NFL career.
“The first time I ever went definitely was a cool experience,” Barkley said. “Obviously didn’t turn out the way I would like it, unfortunately losing here in the divisional (round) but we went to Minnesota that year and played a really good team and having to win a game in a hostile environment kind of give you a college feel to it.”
Because the Eagles won 14 games and earned the second-seed in the conference, Barkley won’t have to go on the road to start his second playoff run. The Eagles get to host the No. 7 seed and if they win on Sunday will host either the Buccaneers, Rams or Vikings in the divisional round. If they keep winning, the first time they’d have to travel would be in the NFC Championship Game to Detroit to see the Lions.
But first thing’s first: A home game against Green Bay.
“The home games here are electric,” Barkley said. “My expectation for the first home game, I don’t really know how much further they can take it.”
That sounds like a challenge, doesn’t it?
Barkley in 2024 had an all-time season. He rushed for 2,005 yards in 16 games, becoming just the ninth player in NFL history to go over 2K in a season. After the first four weeks of the season — they were 2-2 — the Eagles flipped their offensive strategy to feature Barkley and the run game and it worked. It really worked.
Coming back from an early Week 5 bye, the Eagles rattled off 10 wins in a row and Barkley established himself as the best running back in the NFL. Even though they’re in the playoffs now, it’s not like the game plan is magically going to change.
The process during the week doesn’t change either.
“You don’t really change much,” Barkley said. “You don’t win 14 games by mistake. That’s probably my biggest takeaway.”
While Barkley wanted a shot to break Eric Dickerson’s single-season record in Week 18, head coach Nick Sirianni opted to sit most of his starters in a game that had no bearing on playoff seeding. That ensured that the Eagles were going to be as healthy as possible entering the playoffs.
On Thursday, Barkley said that “of course” the week of rest helped him as he gets ready for the playoffs.
If the Eagles want to go on a long run that ends in New Orleans at Super Bowl LIX, they’re going to need Barkley at his best.
“These opportunities, this is what you expected, this is why I came here,” Barkley said. “This team two years ago had been to a Super Bowl and last year went to the playoffs. There’s a lot of guys here who were a part of the Super Bowl year and a lot of guys that were here last year.
“For me, it’s just how can I add and what can I do? The level of play I had in the regular season, hopefully it continued to expand for the sake of the team. Go out there and make plays.”
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