Dec 8, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs with the ball against the Carolina Panthers during the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher
Jalen Hurts threw two touchdown passes in Sunday's 22-16 win over the Carolina Panthers, but it was hardly a day to write home about for the passing game. Hurts threw for 108 yards. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith combined for eight catches for 80 yards. Give the Panthers some credit, they slowed down the passing game of the Eagles Sunday.
Fortunately for the Eagles, both Hurts (60 yards, one touchdown) and Saquon Barkley (124 yards, successful two-point conversion) had big days on the ground, allowing them to overcome what was a disappointing day through the air.
Here's a few takeaways from the ninth win in a row for the Eagles, who squeaked out the victory over Bryce Young and a feisty Panthers team.
LeSean McCoy set the Eagles franchise rushing record in 2013, finishing the season with an NFL-best 1,607 yards on the ground. It was a damn good season. Peyton Manning became the rare player to win both NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year that campaign after setting a new single-season record with 55 touchdown passes. In most year's McCoy would have been the OPOY.
Saquon Barkley just obliterated that record, setting a new mark in the fourth quarter of Sunday's win. Sure, there's 17 games in a season now, as opposed to 16 when McCoy set the record. But it only took Barkley 13 games to set a new Eagles record for rushing yards in a season. Over the final four games of the year, Barkley has got a chance to put it so far out of reach that he is the single-season rushing king for the Eagles way longer than the nearly 11 years that McCoy held the mark.
Saquon Barkley has passed LeSean McCoy for the most rushing yards in a single season in Eagles franchise history!
pic.twitter.com/HX9IAjcfLV
Obviously, bigger marks are in sight for Barkley, even if he isn't particularly focused on individual numbers himself.
With 1,623 yards now, Barkley appears to have a good shot to become the ninth running back to get to 2,000 yards in a season, joining O.J. Simpson, Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis, Jamal Lewis, Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson and Derrick Henry.
The all-time single-season record of 2,105 yards set by Dickerson for the Los Angeles Rams in 1984 isn't out reach for Barkley. If he gets that — or even gets anywhere close — he may become the first Eagle to ever win MVP.
At the very least, Barkley has got the franchise single-season rushing record now. And to do that in your first year with a team that began play in 1933 is quite the flex.
A week ago, the Eagles were the beneficiaries of Justin Tucker — arguably the greatest kicker in NFL history — being in a funk.
This week, Eagles fans were reminded their own accomplished kicker is having many of the same issues.
Elliott is 29, so there aren't the same concerns of hitting a wall that exist with Tucker, who just turned 35. But if you've diagnosed Tucker as having a case of the yips, it would be hard not to arrive at the same conclusion with Elliott.
With a chance to increase their 14-10 lead in the third quarter, Elliott pushed a 52-yard field goal attempt wide right, and not by a little:
Jake Elliott 50+ yard field goal attempts:
- 2023: 7/8
- 2024: 0/5 pic.twitter.com/aB9C7vldtw
As noted in the tweet, Elliott is now 0-for-5 on 50+ yard field goal attempts this season, a year after going 7-for-8 on such tries. To miss a 52-yarder by that amount, even on a windy day, is concerning. The best kickers aren't locks to hit from 58-60 yards. But 52, in today's NFL, has become a relative layup.
Elliott missed the extra point attempt after Hurts found Grant Calcaterra for a touchdown in the third quarter, though it was negated because the Panthers jumped offsides and the Eagles ultimately elected to attempt a two-point conversion.
On fourth-and-eight in the fourth quarter, Nick Sirianni passed up the opportunity to have Elliott try a 54-yard field goal, which would have given the Eagles a two-possession lead. After trying to draw the Panthers offside didn't work, the Eagles moved back five yards on a delay of game penalty and punted. It was the obvious choice. It wouldn't have been if Elliott was kicking like he has for the majority of his career.
It didn't cost them Sunday, but Eagles need to find a way to get Elliott back on track if they hope to win a Super Bowl this season.
The Eagles will host the Russell Wilson and the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers at 4:25 ET next Sunday. It's the final non-divisional game of the regular season slate for the Eagles, who will finish with matchups against the Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.
