Saquon Barkley came back from a hamstring injury on Monday night, and the Eagles still lost to the Cowboys, 38-21. ESPN reported that Barkley said his "hamstring came out great" and that he doesn't believe a back issue will keep him out. ESPN called his performance gutsy and highly efficient. Yahoo Sports took a more cautious view. It said the run game got a boost from his return but that he was "far from being able to handle a full workload."
The box score backs up both readings. Barkley carried seven times for 62 yards, an 8.9-yard average, with a long of 29 and a touchdown. He also caught two passes for 9 yards on two targets. Seven carries is a small load for a lead back. The Eagles as a team ran 25 times for 121 yards, 4.8 per carry, while Dallas ran 38 times for 204 yards.
Bleeding Green Nation's Alexis Chassen wrote that the offense finally moved the ball early and scored a touchdown on its first drive, and she credited Barkley's return for much of that. The line score fits: Philadelphia scored seven points in each of the first three quarters, then none in the fourth. Dallas scored 10, 10, 8 and 10 by quarter. Philadelphia also went 5 of 12 on third down, threw an interception and took two sacks.
Barkley's season has been interrupted. He has appeared in four games and has 36 carries for 182 yards, a 5.1 average, with no rushing touchdowns before Monday's score. His game log shows how thin his earlier appearances were. He had 15 carries in each of the first two weeks, against Washington and Chicago. In his other two games he had four and two. He also has a fumble this season, on Oct. 4 against the Rams. Monday's seven carries were his fewest in a game since the Rams game, apart from that two-carry outing. That is consistent with a player being eased back in.
The standings explain why the Eagles wanted him back. They are 2-5, third in the NFC East, and on a five-game losing streak. The three most recent losses are 19-17 at Jacksonville, 25-14 to Carolina and now this one. The first two were by two and 11 points.
The next game is Sunday, Nov. 1, at Washington, which the Eagles opened the season against. The reporting we have doesn't say whether Barkley will practice in full this week or what his snap count will be. ESPN's account of his back issue, which he downplayed, is the only mention of it in the coverage. How he comes through the week will show whether the hamstring really is no longer a problem.
Discussion