Saquon Barkley makes history as Eagles hold on for an ugly 22-16 win over Panthers

When the Carolina Panthers attempted a comeback late in the fourth quarter on Sunday afternoon, Darius Slay called game.

In his return from a concussion that sidelined him last week against the Baltimore Ravens, the 33-year-old outside cornerback broke up a pass from quarterback Bryce Young intended for wide receiver Adam Thielen on fourth-and-9 deep in Eagles territory with 29 seconds left, sealing a 22-16 home victory for the Eagles. The play followed a drop from wide receiver Xavier Legette short of the goal line on a deep ball from Young that could have helped flip the score in Carolina’s favor.

Slay’s big play served as one of the highlights from a shaky overall performance from the Eagles defense, which gave up more than 300 net yards of offense for just the fifth time this season.

Here’s our instant analysis of the Eagles’ ninth straight victory of the season, which improved their record to 11-2:

True to form, the Eagles offense came out sluggish to start the game. For the 10th contest this season, Jalen Hurts and the rest of the unit failed to put up points in the first quarter. Saquon Barkley got going early in the second quarter on their third possession (five carries for 37 yards) to set the Eagles up for a Tush Push touchdown and put them up, 7-3.

Still, the passing game remained listless, as Hurts went 4-for-9 for 42 yards through four possessions. A.J. Brown wasn’t targeted on any of those drives.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson provided the Eagles the spark they needed to get back into a rhythm. With two minutes remaining in the first half, the 26-year-old safety picked off Young on a third-and-3 play from the Carolina 36-yard line on a pass intended for Thielen, bringing the Eagles offense back on the field at the Panthers’ 44.

Hurts got back into a brief groove in the passing game and got the ball back in the hands of his top receiver. Brown snared his first target and reception of the game with 1 minute, 26 seconds left in the first half. Hurts completed all five of his passes on the drive, capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith, who returned after missing two games with a hamstring injury.

Grant Calcaterra got in on the action, too, making his first career touchdown reception on a 4-yard pass early in the fourth quarter to pull the Eagles ahead, 20-16. After a Carolina penalty, Barkley ran in a two-point conversion to make it 22-16.

The offense was still inconsistent at times, as Hurts took four sacks and threw for only 108 yards. Brown finished the game with four receptions on four targets for 43 yards, his second-lowest total of the season.

When asked what is holding the Eagles passing game back, Hurts succinctly pointed to a “lack of synchronization.” Hurts was also asked whether he thinks the Eagles’ conversation about getting on the same page should be happening in Week 14, to which he responded, “No.”

Meanwhile, Jake Elliott was hard to trust beyond the 50-yard line, as he missed a 52-yard field-goal attempt in the third quarter. The Eagles opted to punt on fourth-and-9 instead of attempt another long field goal to precede the final Panthers possession, a decision that Nick Sirianni chalked up to the wind blowing in the opposite direction of the drive. Still, the running game and the defense’s big stand in the final seconds were enough to survive the Panthers’ attempted comeback.

Going into Sunday’s game, Barkley had the opportunity to break the single-season franchise rushing record, set by LeSean McCoy in 2013. The 27-year-old running back needed just 109 yards to best McCoy’s total of 1,607 in 16 games.

» READ MORE: Saquon Barkley breaks LeSean McCoy’s Eagles record for rushing yards in a season

Barkley made it happen in 13, surpassing McCoy with a 9-yard carry more than halfway through the fourth quarter to bring his total on the day to 116 yards. He finished the game with 124 yards on 20 carries, marking his ninth game of the season with 100-plus rushing yards, also a franchise record.

The star running back knew that he could break the record going into Sunday’s game, but he didn’t know in the moment of his 9-yard run that he had eclipsed the previous high.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Barkley said. “The most important thing was getting a win, and we got a win. But being a fan of Shady growing up and seeing the spectacular things he was able to do with the ball in his hands. And just to be able to have my name mentioned with him definitely means a lot. But a lot of credit to the guys up front. They made my job a lot easier.”

His most impressive play of the day came early in the third quarter when he ripped off an 18-yard run to move the offense to midfield. Jordan Mailata’s block on safety Xavier Woods at the second level of the Panthers defense helped spring Barkley as the running back took off to the left outside the numbers. However, the Eagles were unable to capitalize on the play, as Elliott missed the 52-yard field-goal attempt to keep the Panthers up, 14-10.

The Eagles weren’t the only team with a talented running back. Chuba Hubbard has been one of the bright spots for the 3-10 Panthers this season, ranking third in the league in rushing yards over expected going into the game behind Barkley and Derrick Henry, according to Next Gen Stats.

The Panthers relied on him even more than the Eagles might have anticipated on Sunday afternoon. Depth running backs Jonathon Brooks and Raheem Blackshear went down in the first half due to injury (knee and chest, respectively), leaving Hubbard as the lone available running back.

Hubbard, the Panthers’ fourth-round pick in the 2021 draft out of Oklahoma State, did the bulk of his damage through small cuts. His longest gain was a 15-yard run early in the first quarter. Still, with Brooks and Blackshear absent for most of the game, Hubbard had 15 carries for 63 yards (4.2 yards per carry) in the first half alone.

He scored the Panthers’ go-ahead touchdown, a 1-yard punch-in, late in the third quarter to put Carolina up, 16-14. It marked the first time the Eagles had trailed late into the third quarter since their loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4. Hubbard was steady for the Panthers offense, as he finished the game with 92 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries. He also contributed four receptions for 15 yards.

“It was just more so about just tackling all as one team, as a defense,” Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis said. “He had a couple plays. He’s a good back. That’s what he’s going to do. We just had to make sure that he didn’t change the day.”

Gardner-Johnson went down twice in the game. He initially exited in the first quarter after colliding with Tristin McCollum while attempting to tackle Legette. Gardner-Johnson was evaluated for a concussion but returned to action in the second quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Gardner-Johnson went down again after crashing into linebacker Zack Baun on a 2-yard carry by Hubbard. He managed to walk off slowly under his own power. However, he returned to the game in short order.