Eagles Do Saquon Barkley No Favors at Dallas

What They're Saying

Barkley after the game, via The Athletic: "I'm not playing well. I've got to play better. That's really it. ... I'm tired of the excuse of people trying to stop the run game. I don't really subscribe to that. Just got to be better. Got to make plays."

LT Jordan Mailata: "It's not on Saquon. It's on all of us. You can watch the film. We always say we're one block away. It's tiring and as repetitive as it is, that's the truth. I'm tired of saying it. But it starts with us. We got to do a better job with execution."

2025 Fantasy Football Impact

The Cowboys played a five-man front as their base defense in Sunday's game. That included DTs Quinnen Williams (recently acquired), Osa Odighizuwa, and Kenny Clark at the interior positions, with Donovan Ezeiruaku and Jadeveon Clowney on the edges.

That didn't make for a favorable rushing spot, especially with the Eagles playing their first game since losing RT Lane Johnson to a foot injury.

Barkley is also facing more crowded boxes for the season than he did last year. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Barkley has seen 8+ defenders in the box on 33.1% of his rush this season, ninth-highest among qualifiers. That's up from 20.6% last season.

But both he and Mailata are right, in that there's no one thing holding Philly's run game back. It's a blend of many issues, none of which seems on the verge of improving.

The Eagles should get better rushing matchups with the Bears and Chargers these next two weeks, and we shouldn't expect Barkley to repeat Sunday's season lows in total rushing yards and yards per carry. But he also doesn't appear headed for a big rebound at any point.