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Saquon Barkley has enjoyed a wildly successful start to his career in Philadelphia.Photograph: Tommy Gilligan/USA Today Sports
Baltimore Ravens nose tackle Travis Jones dropped the fabulous Saquon Barkley to the cold turf for a one-yard loss on his only carry of the third quarter Sunday, leaving the running back with 44 yards rushing on the day. Barkley has had four separate carries this season for more yardage.
The Ravens had done a decent job to that point containing Barkley, but football games consist of four quarters, not three, and Barkley only seems to get stronger these days. As the Philadelphia Eagles ground out a 24-19 victory over a fellow playoff contender, Barkley finished with 107 yards rushing.
That fourth quarter included 11 carries for Barkley, including a 25-yard touchdown sprint, then six straight carries on a five-minute drive that ended with a game-icing field goal. It was not his best game statistically, but Barkley, again, showed what he can do with a game on the line.
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“He makes good situations out of bad stuff, all around,” Eagles guard Landon Dickerson said.
Barkley now leads the NFL with 1,499 yards rushing, on pace to edge Eric Dickerson’s 40-year-old single-season record of 2,105 yards, which was set when the season was 16 games rather than 17. Of much more importance to Barkley is that the Eagles are 10-2, winners of eight games in a row.
Of those 1,499 yards, 982 have come after halftime, and 481 in the fourth quarter – with six touchdowns and 17 first downs. Sunday was notable because the Ravens had the No 2 rushing defense in the NFL and had not allowed an opposing back to rush for 100 yards.
Baltimore’s plan to stop Barkley was to build a mighty wall and pay attention to plugging the gaps. Nnamdi Madubuike, the Ravens’ defensive tackle, said afterward, “For the most part, we did that, but at the end of the game, we let it slip away. We…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/needs-bit-daylight-saquon-barkley-090049595.html
Author : The Guardian
Publish date : 2024-12-03 09:00:00
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