Dave Zangaro and Reuben Frank discuss the Eagles’ offensive line as they gear up to face a red-hot Rams defensive front. Jordan Mailata discusses his unit’s preparation for the challenge against LA.
In 1979, Wilbert Montgomery had 379 touches, 3rd-most in the NFL. He rushed for over 1,500 yards and led the NFL with 2,006 scrimmage yards. By the time the playoffs came around? He averaged 3.1 yards per carry, well below his regular-season 4.5 mark.
Ricky Watters had 399 touches during the 1995 regular season, 2nd-most in the league. He rushed for nearly 1,300 yards and had over 1,700 scrimmage yards. But once the playoffs came around, he had nothing left. He averaged 2.8 yards per carry in two postseason games.
A year later, Watters led the league with 400 touches, but he was equally ineffective in the playoffs, averaging just 2.9 yards per carry in the wild-card loss in San Francisco.
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LeSean McCoy led the NFL with 366 touches during his 2013 all-pro season. But in the wild-card loss to the Saints, he had a lackluster 3.7 average on 21 carries.
It’s rare for running backs to be at their best in the postseason after a long regular season with a high number of touches. That’s probably why some of the Eagles’ top playoff rushers - Heath Sherman in 1992, Correll Buckhalter in 2001, LaGarrette Blount and Jay Ajayi in 2017, Kenny Gainwell in 2022 - were part-time players during the regular season.
And get this:
Over the last 30 seasons, 67 NFL running backs had at least 375 touches in a season. Twenty of the 67 didn't play in the postseason. Of the remaining 40, some 30 had a lower rushing average in the postseason than the regular season, 17 of them more than a yard less. One had the same average and only nine improved, most recently Tiki Barber in 2006.
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Which brings us to Saquon Barkley.
Barkley led the NFL with 378 touches this year, 4th-most in Eagles history. But there was hardly any dropoff Sunday in the playoff opener vs. the Packers. He ran 21 times for 119 yards and would have had a lot more - possibly 59 more - if he didn’t take a knee after a 17-yard run out to the Eagles' 41-yard-line with 33 seconds left in the game.
This doesn’t just happen.
A combination of the tireless work Barkley does to maintain his fitness during the season and Nick Sirianni working in regular rest days during the practice week has enabled Barkley to look just as sharp now as he did 5 ½ months ago at the start of training camp.
How does he do it?
“Consistency,” Jordan Mailata said. “Consistency in his routine. I mean, I'm big on my routine. So I basically live in the training room. It's the same guys every week. Smitty, A.J., Saquon, me, Z.B. (Zack Baun). Same guys. I love to see it. Someone of his caliber, someone of his notoriety.
“You see it and when he does something, you want to do it. When he says something, you want to listen. If he believes something, I believe it.”
Signing with the Eagles has revitalized Barkley in a lot of ways. But he’s become a far more effective runner late in the season than he was with the Giants. And you need your stars at their best this time of year.
The last three Decembers with the Giants, Barkley averaged 3.8 yards per carry. This year he averaged 5.0.
Barkley averaged an otherworldly 6.6 yards per carry this year in the fourth quarter.
He never looked tired, never looked stale, never looked overworked.
“He's always working on his body,” Lane Johnson said. “He’s always in there doing something in the weight room, pre-practice, post-practice.
“As a younger player, sometimes you think pushing yourself more and more will bring a greater benefit. Sometimes players have to save themselves from themselves, and I feel like he's got enough years in now to know when to push and when to hold back.”
Barkley isn’t exactly old, but 27 is relatively long in the tooth for an elite running back.
He’s the 3rd-oldest player with 2,000 rushing yards in a season, and including the playoffs, his 2,406 scrimmage yards are 8th-most by a player 27 or older.
“He does a lot of things just to get himself ready each Sunday, both mentally and physically,” Sirianni said.
“And I think he's an ultimate pro that knows how important it is that he's in great shape, weighing what he needs to weigh, working hard in the weight room to do the preventative things, the prehab, the post, the rehab stuff. And so he really does a good job of taking care of his body to get himself where he can touch the ball that much.
“And that's a group effort. I can't say enough about all the guys that work with him as well. You know, the strength staff, the training room staff, the doctors that all work with him to make sure he's on that path.”
Barkley will face the NFL’s 26th-ranked rush defense Sunday at the Linc, a unit he shredded for 255 yards back in November.
The only Eagle with consecutive postseason rushing games is Brian Westbrook against the Giants and Saints in 2006.
“Top-of-the-class athlete who does everything correctly,” A.J. Brown said. “He's a true professional.
“He’s truly blessed and has tremendous talent, but I think what you see is the day-to-day process and how much it means to him. And regardless of all the praise that's around him, and he’s getting praised for this, getting this award, that award, and all this stuff, but it doesn’t affect him. He has the same work ethic, and he continues to show up, continues to be ready, continues to do the things that got him where he is.”
Tune in to Mission 59 specials all playoffs long on NBC Sports Philadelphia, presented by Toyota.
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