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Eagles’ Saquon Barkley named NFC offensive player of the week after dominating the Giants

Barkley was honored for the second time this season after he rushed for 176 yards and a touchdown against the Giants.

Photographers gather around Eagles running back Saquon Barkley after the 28-3 victory over the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
Photographers gather around Eagles running back Saquon Barkley after the 28-3 victory over the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.Read moreDavid Maialetti / Staff Photographer
    by EJ Smith
    Published 

Saquon Barkley was named NFC offensive player of the week on Wednesday for his dominant performance against the New York Giants on Sunday.

The Eagles running back finished the 28-3 win against his former team with 176 rushing yards and one touchdown to go along with two receptions for 11 yards. It’s his second time winning the award, with the first coming after his 109-yard, three-touchdown performance against the Green Bay Packers in the Eagles’ season opener.

» READ MORE: Darius Slay wants to know how Giants owner John Mara is sleeping after letting Saquon Barkley go

Barkley finished just 13 rushing yards shy of matching his career high against the Giants but elected to sit for most of the fourth quarter along with the majority of the Eagles’ offensive starters when given the choice to chase the milestone by Eagles coach Nick Sirianni.

After signing a three-year, $37.75 million contract with the Eagles in the offseason, Barkley is having one of the most efficient years of his career so far. His yards per attempt, yards per game, and rushing success rate are each significantly higher than his previous career bests. He’s also on pace to score his highest number of touchdowns in a season and a record number of rushes of 10 or more yards.

» READ MORE: Why Saquon Barkley is having a growing impact on his new team

Going into the game, he said he didn’t feel he had anything to prove to the Giants after unsuccessful talks on a contract extension led to his leaving in free agency. After his dominant performance, Barkley conceded that seeing fans burn his jersey in the parking lot as the Eagles’ team bus pulled into MetLife Stadium gave him a little extra motivation.

“That was crazy,” Barkley said. “I’ve seen my jersey get burned before on social media, but the timing of it. I’m locked in, I’m listening to my music, and all I see is fans just pointing, and I look and I’m like, ‘What are they pointing at?’ I see smoke and I’m just like, ‘Where’s my jersey at?’

“That was definitely different. I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced anything like that in my life and hopefully, I don’t experience that again but, in that moment, I was ready for third-and-1.”