Eagles RB Saquon Barkley matched his season high with 22 carries in Monday night's win over the Packers. But he averaged just 2.7 yards per rush in totaling 60 yards on the ground, with a quarter of that coming on a 15-yard first half dash. Barkley did add 41 yards on 3 receptions, though it's worth noting that he collected all of that on a single swing pass that produced 41 yards on after-catch space plus a nice spin move. He also lost a 21-yard run in the second quarter to a holding penalty on G Brett Toth. One thing that did change vs. Green Bay: Barkley played his smallest snap share for any healthy game this year.
It was, at least, Barkley's second straight game of 100+ scrimmage yards, following his explosive outing against the Giants before the bye. But Barkley totaled just 4.0 yards per touch, in line with his inefficient outings that opened the year.
The Eagles worryingly lost RT Lane Johnson to an ankle injury in the first half, but he returned to close out the game (ultimately playing 59% of the snaps). And Barkley wasn't especially efficient even when Johnson was on the field.
Philadelphia also missed C Cam Jurgens for the second straight game. But we have limited evidence on that effect, given that his first missed spot came in Barkley's big outing against the Giants.
Philly added one wrinkle to the run game, bringing a sixth lineman onto the field 12 times. That included plays with and without Johnson, pointing to a specific pre-game plan. And the Eagles ran Barkley on all 12 of those plays.
One 7-yard rush got negated by offsetting penalties, but we'll count that here since the offensive infraction didn't help the run (an illegal shift by A.J. Brown). Barkley gained 49 yards on those 12 plays (4.1 per rush); 42 yards on 11 carries if you remove the non-play (3.8).
That's obviously a better rushing average than plays that didn't include the extra blocker. But the rushing average still falls well short of a "good" level for Barkley. And telegraphing your play call with an extra blocker obviously isn't a long-term solution. Defenses are gonna figure that out quickly.
Green Bay's defense has been good this year, but the Packers currently rank just 15th in the league in rush DVOA. So don't simply blame the lackluster performance on a tough matchup.
Now let's circle back to that playing-time shift.
Barkley played 81.9% of Eagles offensive snaps through the first seven games. He left the Week 8 win over the Giants early with a groin issue. Then Barkley dipped to 70% playing time against the Packers.
There might have been some injury management at play, though Barkley put in full practices all week coming off the bye.
Pro Football Focus noted that the Eagles used Will Shipley as the primary third-down back vs. Green Bay. The shift obviously didn't hurt Barkley's touch count, but it could threaten his receiving upside if it continues.
That's an especially crucial area to counteract the rushing inefficiency.
I've mentioned in this space before that I wouldn't mind trading Barkley away amid this disappointing offensive display. Of course, the challenge will be getting a worthwhile price. And that'll likely vary quite a bit by league.
Feel free to try offers, but don't aim too low.
Barkley gets a negative matchup for RB scoring with the Lions in Week 11. But he follows that with the league's second-best RB schedule from Week 12 on.
So he should ultimately be fine for our lineups the rest of the way ... even if we drafted him in search of something more than fine.
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