Saquon Barkley knows what it means to be a game-changer - he reminded the entire league of that last season when he powered the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl 59 title with a career-defining campaign. But this year?
It's been a different story. The numbers are down, the rhythm hasn’t been quite the same, and Barkley isn’t shying away from that reality.
With the 2025 regular season winding down, Barkley is sitting at 940 rushing yards on 240 carries, with six touchdowns on the ground. He’s also added 37 receptions for 273 yards and two more scores through the air.
Solid production, no doubt - but when you’re coming off a 2,000-yard rushing season with 13 touchdowns, expectations shift. Barkley set the bar sky-high in 2024, and this year’s version hasn’t hit that same stride.
Still, as Barkley addressed the media on Thursday, his focus wasn’t on what hasn’t happened - it was on what still can.
“Anytime you rush for 1,000 yards, it’s a big deal,” he said. “The year hasn’t went, consistency-wise, the way I had last year or kind of how predicted because of how I train, how I work.
But sometimes that’s how the game goes. But my mindset is I can still have the impact on the season I want to, and that’s finishing up the season strong and going to the playoffs.
That’s what matters the most. All of that is still in front of me.”
That mindset sums up where Barkley - and the Eagles - are right now. The offense hasn’t been as explosive, and Barkley hasn’t had the same jaw-dropping moments that defined his 2024 campaign. But the team is still in the thick of the NFC playoff race, and Barkley knows there’s still time to flip the switch.
The Eagles are 9-5 and sitting atop the NFC East, ahead of division rivals Dallas, Washington, and the New York Giants. In the broader NFC picture, they hold the No. 3 seed, trailing only the Rams and Bears, while staying ahead of the Buccaneers and Seahawks. It’s a tight race, but Philadelphia controls its own destiny - win down the stretch, and they’re not just in the playoffs; they’re in position to host a game.
That’s where Barkley’s mindset becomes critical. A strong finish from the veteran back could be the difference between a playoff cameo and another deep postseason run. He’s been there before, and he knows what it takes to elevate when the stakes are highest.
The next test comes quickly - a road trip to Washington to face the Commanders on Dec. 20. It’s a divisional matchup with real implications, and a chance for Barkley to remind everyone that while the season may not have gone as scripted, the final chapter is still being written.
And if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Saquon Barkley, it’s that he’s more than capable of delivering a dramatic finish.