The Philadelphia Eagles are looking to repeat as Super Bowl champions after their complete dismantling of the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, following a regular season where the addition of star running back Saquon Barkley completely unlocked the offense.
Barkley won Offensive Player of the Year after his dominant season and was rewarded with a massive contract in the offseason. However, this year, Barkley has been one of the worst running backs in the league by the numbers.
“Of the 24 running backs who have at least 75 carries so far this season, Barkley ranks dead last in yards per carry, with 3.3. Last year, Barkley averaged 5.8 yards per carry,” reported Pro Football Talk.
For further context on how diminished Barkley’s production has been this year, last season he averaged 125.3 rushing yards per game, and this year is only averaging 52.7.
Fans reacted to the major drop-off in performance on social media.
“You mean he is actually playing a tough defensive schedule…..hmmm. Who could have guessed?” one person wrote on Twitter.
“It’s not like Barkley has looked bad running the ball or lacking in his approach / effort. OLine play & related injuries / playcalling / defensive approach are big factors here,” someone else added.
“Who has come back from such an amazing season to duplicate it?” another fan wanted to know.
It’ll be interesting to see if Barkley can pick things back up in the second half of the season.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.