‘Meant to be’: Saquon Barkley authors MVP-level performance in the Eagles’ romp over the Rams

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Fresh off his 302-scrimmage-yard heroics against the Los Angeles Rams, Saquon Barkley returned to the visitors locker room at SoFi Stadium and encountered a familiar sight — a request for a drug test.

The half sheet of paper that hung from the top shelf of Barkley’s stall has become as commonplace as the “No. 26″ nameplate affixed above it. However, upon further inspection, the Eagles’ star running back noticed the name “D. Goedert” scrawled at the top of the sheet. Dallas Goedert had pulled a prank on Barkley, removing his own drug test notice from his stall and taping it to his teammate’s in the aftermath of his historic night.

“I’ve been drug tested enough,” Barkley deadpanned. “Hopefully I get away from that for a little bit.”

Barkley’s seemingly supernatural season with the Eagles came to a crescendo in Sunday’s win, as the 27-year-old running back burned the Rams defense on the ground for a single-game career-best 255 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. He set the franchise record for rushing yards in a game, besting LeSean McCoy’s 217-yard performance in 2013.

Thanks to the litany of statistics featured on the gigantic infinity loop-style scoreboard dangling from the roof of the stadium, Barkley had a sense of how close he was to breaking his previous personal best of 189 rushing yards. He looked up at the screen after the Eagles’ first possession of the fourth quarter and noticed his counter stuck at 173.

“I literally said to myself, ‘I wish I never saw that,’ because that’s just the devil talking,” Barkley said. “That’s just how I look at it. Just kept my head down and just kept trusting the system and we popped a long one.”

After a relatively slow start in the first half (73 yards on 13 carries), a pair of explosive touchdown runs in the second accounted for nearly half of Barkley’s damage on the ground and put him well above his previous personal best.

» READ MORE: Eagles grades: Saquon Barkley might just be the NFL’s MVP after dominating the Rams

The first touchdown came on the first play of the Eagles’ second-half opening possession. After navigating through a lane created by Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens on an outside zone run to the first-down marker, Barkley planted his left foot in the turf and cut toward the sideline with his right, gaining leverage on Rams safety Kamren Kinchens, who had crashed. Following the game, Nick Sirianni called it a cut that he didn’t think anybody else could make.

Barkley took off outside the numbers and crossed the goal line unscathed for a 70-yard touchdown run to put the Eagles up two scores, 20-7. In the locker room, the running back credited the efforts of the offensive line for making his job easier. The offensive line reciprocated that acknowledgment.

“He’s an absolute stud,” Jurgens said. “I freakin’ love blocking for that guy. I think he loves running for us. You’ve just got to do your own job and just got to get a little bit of a piece on the linebacker, the D-lineman. Just a little bit extra, ‘cause he’s ready to spring any run.”

Barkley wasn’t finished. Late in the fourth quarter with the Eagles looking to close out the game, Kellen Moore dialed up a “counter” run concept in which Grant Calcaterra pulled across the formation to block for Barkley. The running back said that it was a similar play to one that the Eagles had attempted earlier in the game, but his cleat had come off when he was tackled.

The play had a different fate the second time around. Calcaterra sealed off Rams safety Kam Curl on the edge, allowing Barkley to cut behind the tight end and burst through the hole downfield. Barkley cruised into the end zone on a 72-yard touchdown run to seal the victory and his numerous milestones.

His night ended after the TD run, earning the ninth-highest total of scrimmage yards (255 rushing, 47 receiving) in a game by any player in NFL history. If Barkley wasn’t already among the front-runners for the league’s most valuable player accolade, his performance might as well have been a formal application.

Despite the “MVP” chants from the throngs of Eagles fans who made the trip to Los Angeles that inundated Barkley as he ran off the field, postseason awards aren’t on the running back’s mind yet.

“We’ll start thinking about that when the season’s over,” Barkley said. “I love being in that conversation. It’s cool and all. But like I said, it’s a team sport. If you tell me that I could have the year I’m having and win an MVP but not win a Super Bowl or I can have the year I’m having and not win MVP or offensive player of the year and win a Super Bowl, I’m going to take the other one.”

» READ MORE: The Eagles made it clear Sunday night: They’re a Super Bowl-caliber team

Nearly 3,000 miles east of the site where Barkley made franchise history with his 302 all-purpose yards, his former New York Giants team amassed just 245 yards of total offense in a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at MetLife Stadium.

When Barkley left the Giants after six seasons to sign a three-year deal with the Eagles in the offseason, he said he didn’t know if he could have this much success. The supporting cast around him — including Lane Johnson, A.J. Brown, and Jalen Hurts — has encouraged Barkley to make plays and “do something special” in Philadelphia.

“I think this is a spot where I can kind of rewrite my story,” Barkley said. “I feel like I can show everyone the type of player that I feel like I can be and was meant to be.”

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Two explosive touchdown runs, 302 historic scrimmage yards, and a drug-test prank later, Barkley isn’t finished writing his latest chapter with the Eagles.

“My story’s not finished and it’s going to keep going,” he said.