Saquon Barkley's Down Year Still Historic For Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles' offense obviously hasn't looked the same as it did last year.

Last season, Saquon Barkley was going bonkers and was a threat to go over 200 rushing yards seemingly every game. This season has been slower, by his standards. Barkley will enter the Week 16 showdown against the Washington Commanders with 940 yards on the season so far on the ground on 240 carries. So far this season, he has averaged 67.1 rushing yards per game, in comparison to 125.3 yards per game last year. That's a lot to live up to. There's a reason why no running back in league history has accomplished the feat twice. It's very difficult.

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Everything has to go right. You need a strong offensive line, good health, explosive overall offense, and much more. This season hasn't been perfect, but Barkley has started to turn it around. He's averaged 85.3 rushing yards per game over his last three games. That number jumps to 100 over the last two games.

Saquon Barkley is among the NFL's best backs

Dec 14, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders during the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Barkley may not be chasing 2,000 yards like last year, but he's closing in on 1,000 yards, which is impressive in itself. The Eagles have had 22 total 1,000-yard rushing seasons in team history. LeSean McCoy has four of them, followed by Wilbert Montgomery, Duce Staley, and Ricky Watters with three, Brian Westbrook and Steve Van Buren with two, and then one each from Miles Sanders, Herschel Walker, D'Andre Swift, Earnest Jackson, and Barkley.

With 60 more yards, Barkley will join the crew of six players with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons in team history. Doing it in back-to-back seasons will be impressive in itself, if he reaches the threshold, of course. McCoy is the last individual with back-to-back seasons with 1,000 yards in a season, dating back to 2013 and 2014. The Eagles actually have had back-to-back seasons with over 1,000 yards, but with different players, with Swift and Barkley.

So, again, even in a somewhat down season, Barkley has been doing good things for this Eagles offense and is in very good company.

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