BALTIMORE — Seconds after his 25-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, the sporadic Philadelphia Eagles fans in attendance at M&T Bank Stadium could be heard for the first time. The M-V-P chants were out for Saquon Barkley, as his run was the play that sealed the Eagles’ 24-19 victory over the Baltimore Ravens — and was his signature play for the league’s top honor.
Barkley heard those chants as he tied the Eagles’ franchise record for 100-yard games in a season with eight (Wilbert Montgomery also accomplished the feat in 1981). They weren’t something to soak in, no matter how well Barkley has been playing.
“I appreciate the MVP chants. It’s great. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is winning football games,” Barkley said. “And I’ve been so locked in, so focused. And my preparation, the way that I work throughout the week, and there’s a reason why I’m getting those chants.
“If I continue to take care of that, once the season is over, we’ll look and see what happens. But at the end of the day, just continue to get wins and put ourselves in a position to go deep in playoffs.”
Barkley’s MVP case goes beyond his 1,499 rushing yards and his quest for a 2,000-yard season (he’s only 501 yards away and needs to average 100.2 yards per game over the last five games to reach that mark). He has six 20+ yard touchdown runs in the second half this season, setting an NFL record with five games to play. Barkley has five 20+ yard touchdown runs in the second half over the last three games, a feat so rare that it matched Emmitt Smith (1992) and Chris Johnson (2009) for the most in a season in league history.
Not only is Barkley on pace for 2,123 rushing yards — which would be an NFL record for rushing yards in a season — he has 982 rushing yards in the second half, more than 30 NFL teams. The 982 rushing yards are the most in a season through 12 games since at least 1991, and 179 more than the next highest player (Chris Johnson had 803 in 2009).
“It’s just crazy. I ain’t got no words,” Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter said on what Barkley has been doing. “If you could just record me while he’s doing his thing, I’m just in awe of everything. I’m just like ‘what the f—.'”
Barkley has 481 rushing yards on 7.4 yards per carry in the fourth quarter this season, 134 more rushing yards than any other player (Derrick Henry has 347). He has the most fourth quarter rushing yards through 12 games since Edgerrin James in 2000 (James also had 481) and has more fourth quarter rushing yards than 27 NFL teams.
“The things he does on the the football field, sometimes you can’t wrap your mind around it,” Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean said. “I’m so glad I don’t have to go up against him.”
Barkley is the only running back to have over 88 yards against the Ravens defense, finishing with 107 against Baltimore. 63 of those yards came in that fourth quarter, as Barkley had 5.2 yards per carry when the Eagles needed him most.
The Eagles need Barkley to be Superman at the end of games. For the last two months, there has been no kryptonite that has slowed him down.
“Late in the game, we were telling him, ‘Go ahead and put your cape on. Hurry up and let him out,'” Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown said. “And he did exactly that.”
Barkley had his MVP moment on Sunday, a season where running backs are starting to rewrite the record books again. The MVP is a quarterback-driven award, but there’s no denying how important Barkley has been in making the Eagles a Super Bowl contender again.
If the MVP award means what the acronym says it does, than there should be little debate who gets the league’s top individual honor.