The numbers say the running game, the bread and butter of the Eagles' offense in these last five seasons with Nick Sirianni as the head coach, is improving.

More than that, the team's confidence in the ground attack is building.

"You just keep working at it, working on it. We've gotten better, done some things differently, but mostly we've kept at it and that's the important thing," running back Saquon Barkley said on Sunday, minutes after rushing for 78 yards and a touchdown in the 31-0 win over Las Vegas. "We know it's just a matter of time before we get things where we want them to be. It isn't easy. We've had a lot of moving parts this season. But we're getting there. We feel it."

The Eagles rambled for 183 yards against Vegas, the fifth time in seven games they've gone for more than 100 yards on the ground. Six nights earlier, they ran for 134 yards in Los Angeles against the Chargers.

Progress. Progress.

It is all encouraging. During a season in which the offensive line has battled injuries, the offense has searched for consistency, and the team has seen the best from every opponent, the offense believes the best is yet to come with the running game, one that has been the hallmark of championship-level teams this decade.

"Making improvements, adjustments, that's what you do," left tackle Jordan Mailata said. "We've done some different things and I think we're seeing that it is paying off."

What, exactly, are those adjustments? Neither Sirianni nor the players are going to reveal details or expose secrets, but the Eagles have clearly added some wrinkles. They have used a lot of different personnel packages, for example. "Heavy" packages with the inclusion of an extra offensive tackle or three tight ends have proven effective. Mixing Jalen Hurts from the shotgun to under center to take the snap gives defenses more to account for.

As for the specifics of the design of the running game, the Eagles have a broad spectrum of options in their playbook, and they've tested the depth of their creativity. Step by step, the running game is gaining back the traction that powered the offense to a No. 2 seed in the 2024 NFC postseason.

Remaining patient, listening to new ideas in gameplanning meetings, and staying focused on the task of improving the running game are all to be credited.

"Just staying with it, working on the fundamentals and everybody doing his job," left guard Landon Dickerson said. "It's pretty simple: When we do our job up front, the running game works. When we aren't shooting ourselves with penalties and playing from behind the sticks, when we are on schedule, we're going to be fine.

"It's when we've made mistakes and missed a block or had a penalty or something like that, that's when we stumble."

Three games remain in the regular season and with the Eagles one win away from clinching the NFC East division, the focus is on finding a way to defeat Washington on Saturday evening. How the Eagles decide to go after the Commanders' defense remains to be seen, of course, but the running game is an option to lean upon. Barkley is on the verge of the fifth 1,000-yard rushing season of his career (he is 60 yards away) and Tank Bigsby has 225 yards and a 6.3 yards-per-carry average on 36 attempts. Hurts is also an important part of the ground attack, and on Sunday, Hurts had seven rushing attempts – most of them on designed calls – for 39 big yards.

It is all coming together, and they feel it.

"We've been close," Mailata said, "and the key is to keep getting better and executing the calls made by the coaching staff. That's what it comes down to. Do your job. Execute the assignment, and everything else will come into focus and the plan will be right there for us to complete."