Eagles stats: Saquon Barkley’s blinding speed, Quinyon Mitchell’s shutout key win over the Commanders

Barkley hit 20 mph on both his touchdown runs while rookie corner Mitchell passed another tough test.

Saquon Barkley hit a top speed of over 20mph on both of his touchdown runs Thursday night.Read moreDavid Maialetti / Staff Photographer

Published Nov. 15, 2024, 1:11 p.m. ET

Thanks to the efforts of the defense and the run game, the Eagles separated themselves atop the NFC East with their 26-18 victory over the Washington Commanders.

The Eagles limited the visitors to 264 scrimmage yards on Thursday night, marking the Commanders’ second-lowest total of the season. Meanwhile, Saquon Barkley ignited the offense in the fourth quarter with his pair of explosive rushing touchdowns. He finished the game with 198 scrimmage yards and those two touchdowns (26 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns; two receptions for 52 yards).

In addition to eclipsing 1,000 rushing yards on the season, Barkley had his sixth 100-plus-yards rushing game, which is the most in the league and the most in franchise history through 10 contests. Here are four stats from the Eagles’ sixth-straight win that reflect the contributions of the game’s standout performers:

20.78

If you blinked in the second half, you might have missed Barkley. The star running back reached a top speed of 20.78 miles per hour on his 23-yard touchdown run, according to Next Gen Stats. He wasn’t finished — on the following possession, Barkley posted 20.64 mph on his 39-yard touchdown carry.

With those explosive runs — both in terms of yards gained and speed — Barkley leads the league with six carries over 20 mph this season. He has been particularly explosive from a yardage perspective in the second halves of games, as he leads the league in carries of 10 yards or greater in the second half (17) going into the rest of the Week 11 games.

“When you have those guys up front, it’s easy to get stronger [as the game goes on], ‘cause they’re doing a lot of the load and leaning on those guys,” Barkley said. “Just keep trusting them. Just keep trusting the scheme and try to make the right reads, ‘cause they’re doing a hell of a job for me.”

0

Rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell faced one of his toughest tasks of the season, matching up against top Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin on 20 of his 25 routes (80%) on Thursday night, according to Next Gen Stats. Mitchell was flawless against the receiver, as quarterback Jayden Daniels didn’t target McLaurin once when Mitchell was covering him.

Ultimately, Daniels targeted McLaurin only twice, completing just one pass for 10 yards. McLaurin averaged just 1.19 yards of separation from the nearest defender on his targets (league average is 2.97).

Mitchell, the No. 22 overall pick out of Toledo, was targeted just once on 32 coverage snaps. He did not allow a reception. Since Week 6, the 23-year-old cornerback has allowed just a half-yard per coverage snap, which is the second-fewest among the league’s cornerbacks who have taken at least 100 coverage snaps.

“Terry McLaurin’s a hell of a ball player, but we’ve got a first-round corner for a reason,” C.J. Gardner-Johnson said after the game.

3.7

The Eagles defense kept Daniels and the potent Commanders offense at bay all night long, particularly in the downfield passing game. The rookie quarterback averaged 3.7 air yards per attempt across his 32 passes, his lowest clip in a game this season, according to Next Gen Stats.

The bulk of the Commanders’ damage in the passing game came when targeting receivers aligned in the backfield. He completed each of his 10 passes on those plays for a total of 99 yards, which is the fifth-most yards by a quarterback this year. Running back Austin Ekeler accounted for the vast majority of those receptions (eight catches for 89 yards). Daniels was less successful when targeting receivers on all other alignments, going 12 of 22 for 92 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.

The Commanders managed to move the ball by racking up 153 yards after the catch, marking 80% of Daniels’ 191 total passing yards.

100%

It was a busy night for Jalen Carter. The Georgia standout played 100% of the defensive snaps (66 total) for the first time in his NFL career. Unsurprisingly, Carter was disruptive as a pass rusher, generating a team-high three pressures on Daniels, per Next Gen Stats. One of those pressures against right guard Sam Cosmi in the second quarter helped set up a sack for Josh Sweat, the defensive end’s sixth in his last seven contests.

Carter was equally impactful in the run game. The 23-year-old defensive tackle registered six stops against the run, tying for the team high with Nakobe Dean and Zack Baun. Next Gen Stats defines a stop as a tackle that leads to a successful play for the defense (i.e. negative expected points added). His second-and-1 stop on running back Brian Robinson in the fourth quarter when the Commanders were just outside of the red zone and down 12-10 proved critical to the Eagles’ victory. Baun and Brandon Graham stuffed Robinson once more on the ensuing third down and Baun tackled a scrambling Daniels short of the sticks on fourth down.