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Spadaro: How does Saquon Barkley change the big-picture outlook of the Eagles' offense?

Saquon Barkley
Saquon Barkley

We all waited for this moment since the day the Eagles signed running back Saquon Barkley in free agency and on Friday night, everything fell into place. Barkley had his touches (26), put up his yards (132 from the line of scrimmage), and found the end zone (three times!).

All of that was just great. Or, as Barkley understated after the game, "cool."

But in the bigger picture, the presence of Barkley helped change the dynamic of the Eagles' offense and helped define what Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore has for a vision. Moore wants his offense to be crisp and clean and varied and disciplined (underrated stat: The Eagles were whistled for only two offensive penalties in the game, both in the final drive), fast in every way, and, yes, productive.

And at the end of the long night, the Eagles were all of those. They turned the football over three times and they left some points on the field, and those will be points of emphasis in the coaching meetings early this week. But for the most part, the numbers tell the tale: The Eagles scored 34 points. They were strong in the red zone. They had great balance, ringing up 410 total yards.

"The O-line played great and that's a big reason why I wanted to come to Philly when I had the opportunity. It was a no-brainer for me," Barkley said. "And we still got a lot to improve on, including myself. It meant a lot. We wanted to come out here and take advantage of the opportunity of being one of the first teams to play in South America. And not just only play, but take care of business and get the W."

Barkley is a multi-talented running back who was effective against Green Bay between the tackles, who has quick feet to get through a hole and reach the second level, where his speed and power take over, and he's also a super-talented pass catcher, as evidenced by his 18-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Jalen Hurts, a play on which he made a great catch on a perfect throw and then did a sensational job to stay inbounds to score the touchdown.

The Eagles also hurt Green Bay with the pocket passing of Hurts, who threw for 278 yards; the receiving skills of wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, who combined for 12 receptions, 203 yards, and a touchdown; some timely move-the-chains plays by tight ends Dallas Goedert and Grant Calcaterra; and a hard-fought 33 yards on the ground by Hurts.

The Eagles clash with the Green Bay Packers in the NFL's first-ever game played on South American soil. Check out these exclusive photos from the battle between two of last year's playoff teams in this special Friday night season opener.

Is Barkley going to have 26 touches every week? Unlikely. He has been clear from Day 1 that he understands he is here to do whatever is required to help this offense soar.

"There are going to be games where there's going to be an opportunity for me to go out there and take over, and there's going to be games for A.J. and DeVonta and so on and so on," Barkley said. "I think Kellen does a really good job of having a feel for the game and feel for the players.

"It was a great start. At the end of the day, the most important thing is to win football games and that's hard to do in this league."

Barkley said, with a bit of a grin, that he's "probably, on the scouting report, not in the top three of guys you have to worry about," in this offense and that is certainly debatable. Teams are going to have Barkley circled, but the Eagles know that they have other options, dangerous weapons. When Philadelphia spread the defense, the running game shined. When the Packers loaded the box, Hurts did damage with his receivers in the air.

That is how Moore wants it to work, and with the exception of a few hiccups that will be addressed by the coaches this week, more is on the way. Each week is different, and the Falcons next Monday night will be a new challenge.

"Every team that we get, we know they're going to give the best," Barkley said. "Because all the hype and expectations that was built up with the team that we have and the guys that we have. We got to be ready."

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