Eagles stats: Saquon Barkley finishes strong; Cooper DeJean wins the namesake battle

The stars were out for the Eagles’ 37-20 takedown of the Los Angeles Rams, particularly the ones suited up in green and white.

The most impactful among them was Saquon Barkley, whose 302 all-purpose yards set a franchise record on Sunday night. The running back eclipsed the 1,500 scrimmage-yard marker for the season (1,649), making him the fastest player to reach that threshold through the first 11 games with a new team in NFL history, according to the Eagles.

Here are four stats about notable performers, including Barkley, that paint the picture of the Eagles’ seventh straight win:

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

Just call Barkley the closer. His pair of explosive touchdown runs in the second half that sealed the win over the Rams amassed +136 rushing yards over expected, a statistic from Next Gen Stats that accounts for the difference between actual rushing yards and expected rushing yards on a single play or multiple plays.

Barkley has racked up +444 rushing yards over expected in the second halves of games this season, which exceeds the individual totals of every player in the league across all of their carries this year. The 6-foot, 233-pound running back also surpassed 21 mph on two touches in the second half, according to Next Gen Stats.

Barkley has eclipsed 21 mph on six occasions this season, which is double the next closest player in the league, as there are four tied with three attempts.

“I work really hard in the offseason,” Barkley said Friday. “I put myself in the positions to, as the game goes on, guys should be getting stronger. I should be able to impose my will on the defense. I’ve been training like that for a long time. It gets noticed a little bit more when your team’s having more success.”

Barkley wasn’t the only Eagles player exceeding expectations on his touches. A.J. Brown caught six passes for 109 yards and a touchdown against the Rams, collecting a season-high +65 receiving yards over expected, according to Next Gen Stats. This season, the Eagles’ top receiver has totaled +286 receiving yards over expected, which ranks second in the NFL behind Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase (+310).

Brown was mostly matched up against Rams cornerback Darious Williams throughout the night. Williams lined up opposite Brown on 18 of his 23 routes (73.8%) and conceded four receptions for 86 yards in coverage.

“That was a hell of a game from him being able to show up in some of those moments and to be able to go out there and do that without our guy DeVonta Smith, who we missed,” Jalen Hurts said after the game. “But everybody is just showing up and taking advantage of the opportunities and A.J. made some hell of a plays, made a great move in open field, and he’s doing what he does.”

It was a quiet night for Jalen Carter on the stat sheet, but mostly not by any fault of his own. The second-year defensive tackle was double-teamed on 22 of his 35 pass rushes against the Rams, which resulted in the second-highest double-team rate he encountered in a game this season (62.9%) according to Next Gen Stats.

Carter generated just one pressure against the Rams for his second-lowest pressure rate in a game during his young career (2.9%). However, his lone pressure was a significant one. Late in the fourth quarter on third-and-long as the Rams attempted to claw out of a 30-14 deficit, Carter breezed past center Beaux Limmer to force quarterback Matthew Stafford off his spot and into the arms of Milton Williams for a strip-sack.

One week after playing 100% of the defensive snaps against the Washington Commanders, Carter was on the field for 54 of the Eagles’ first 56 defensive snaps against the Rams (96%). He sat the final eight defensive snaps late in the game with the result in hand.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Rams takeaways: Vic Fangio has defense in playoff form; analyzing Saquon Barkley’s MVP case

The Super Bowl has nothing on the Cooper Bowl. Rookie slot cornerback Cooper DeJean matched up against Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp on nine of his 37 routes (24.3%), which was the most of any Eagles defender. According to Next Gen Stats, DeJean allowed just three receptions for 11 yards (3.7 yards per reception) on five targets as the nearest defender in coverage against Kupp.

DeJean registered a pass breakup on one of those incomplete passes in a critical situation. Early in the second quarter with the Eagles up 7-3, Stafford attempted a pass to Kupp on third-and-4. However, DeJean was physical with the receiver off the line of scrimmage and refused to give him an inch of separation as he broke toward the sideline, allowing him to make a play on the ball.