As Saquon Barkley stood in the locker room a few days before facing the Chiefs in Week 2, he was asked what he saw on film that helped the Cowboys limit him to 60 rushing yards in the season opener.
Barkley started by saying it mostly comes down to the offense and if they can execute their game plan, and he gave credit to Dallas and its defense. Then, he took a metaphorical step back and looked at the bigger picture.
"That's going to be the theme for this year," Barkley said. "You'd be a fool if you let us walk into whatever stadium, whether it's the Linc (Lincoln Financial) or your stadium, and your focal point's not going to be stopping the run. If that's the case, we're going to burn you for it."
Barkley is coming off arguably the greatest rushing season in NFL history. In his first year with the Eagles, Barkley ran for 2,005 yards in the regular season, the eighth most in league history. He followed that up with three straight 100-plus-yard rushing games in the postseason, including an iconic 205-rushing-yard, two-touchdown Divisional Playoff win against the Rams in the snow.
When the season ended with the Eagles lifting the Lombardi Trophy, Barkley had set the NFL single-season record for most rushing yards in the regular season and playoffs with 2,504. That season earned Barkley AP Offensive of the Year honors, and he was recently voted by his peers as the No. 1 player in the NFL for 2025.
However, as the Eagles stated all offseason, 2024 is over. It's onto a new season — for the Birds and Barkley.
"It's going to be a focal point to not let me do what happened last year," Barkley said.
While Barkley knows teams will change how they defend this Eagles offense, his approach to the game hasn't changed. He knows he needs to continue to take what the defense is giving him and be patient.
The top priority for most teams will be to stop Barkley by any means necessary, but that doesn't mean he's entering those games expecting to get bottled up.
"I still train with the mindset of every time I go out and touch the field to be dominant and make plays for my team," Barkley said. "... It is what it is. Take the plays, make the plays when they come. ... The results are going to take care of itself when you fall in love with the process. That's the mindset that I have, and I had it all season."
Barkley's 2024 season was an all-timer, but there were some games where he didn't have massive numbers. The most prominent example was in Super Bowl LIX, when Barkley was held to 57 rushing yards, his second-lowest total of the season.
The Chiefs sold out to stop Barkley, and the rest of the Eagles made Kansas City pay. Jalen Hurts won Super Bowl MVP, A.J. Brown caught a touchdown right before halftime, and DeVonta Smith caught "The Dagger" to ice the game.
Kansas City's plan to slow down Barkley worked, but it didn't matter.
"Teams tried to stop us last year. No one was really successful last year besides in the Super Bowl, to be honest," Barkley said. "But it opens up a lot of stuff, and we still have a threat at quarterback. He can throw the ball and run the ball, too. That's the beauty about playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. We have so much talent. You take away one thing, we have the opportunity to hurt you another. That's just the mindset. Whatever it takes to win football games."
That last part is key for Barkley. He mentioned that he has two seasons with more than 2,000 total yards from scrimmage — his rookie season with the Giants in 2018 and last year in Philadelphia.
There was one key difference, though: The Giants went 5-11 that season, losing seven of eight games at one point, while the Eagles won 18 games and capped it off with a ring.
Barkley has seen both ends of the spectrum and knows he'll trade the gaudy numbers for wins every day.
"I'll take last year over my rookie year any time," he said. "It's all about winning. The numbers don't really matter when you really think about it.
"Every game is not going to be 100, 150 yards. My goal, like I said before, is not to rush for 2,000 yards, it's to win football games."
For Barkley, this is a completely new season. The experiences from last year helped shape him as a player, but just because he won countless awards and the Eagles lifted the Lombardi Trophy doesn't mean it will happen again.
Jalen Hurts has spoken in the past about how each team has its own identity. Last year, the Eagles ran all over the rest of the league. This year, that identity is still to be determined.
It could be another season of Philadelphia's offensive line dominating and Barkley popping big run after big run, but he knows teams will sell out to prevent that from happening.
And if they don't?
"I'll make you pay for it," Barkley said with a smile. "That's how I feel." — Written by Matt Ryan
