It’s time to revalue the devalued running back position in the NFL after Saquon Barkley’s mere presence, if not his production, helped the Philadelphia Eagles dismantle the Kansas City Chiefs in one of the most lopsided Super Bowls ever.
Barkley capped a great year for free-agent running backs by hoisting the Lombardi Trophy after the Eagles’ 40-22 rout of the Chiefs on Sunday that avenged a heartbreaking Super Bowl loss two years earlier and denied Patrick Mahomes and Co. an unprecedented third consecutive title.
Barkley, who had seven touchdown runs of 60 yards or more in his first season with the Eagles, gained a modest 57 yards on 25 carries Sunday and gave props to Steve Spagnuolo’s defense for slowing him down.
Barkley’s biggest contribution, however, was forcing the Chiefs to load the box with extra defenders, which freed wide receivers DeVonta Smith, A.J. Brown and Jahan Dotson to make crucial catches as Jalen Hurts threw just five incompletions while accounting for nearly 300 yards of offense and three touchdowns.
John Elway was blown out in his first three trips to the Super Bowl before capping his Hall of Fame career with back-to-back titles once fellow Hall of Famer Terrell Davis joined him in the Denver Broncos backfield.
“A great running back is a quarterback’s best friend,” Elway said more than once when looking back on his Super Bowl successes.
Speaking of Davis, by halftime Barkley surpassed Davis’ record of 2,476 rushing yards in a season — counting the playoffs — while becoming the first player to top 2,500 yards.
Mahomes, meanwhile, sure could have used a good ground game Sunday.
Behind a spongy offensive line that left him battered, Mahomes handed off just seven times and the Chiefs, who had won 23 of their previous 25 games, trailed 34-0 before they ever crossed midfield.
Kareem Hunt gained 9 yards on three carries, Isiah Pacheco managed 7 yards on three carries and Samaje Perine reeled off an 8-yard gain on his only handoff.
Like Hurts, who led the Eagles with 72 yards on the ground, Mahomes was the Chiefs’ leading rusher with 25 yards on four runs. The rest of the time, he was desperately trying to avoid the Eagles’ destructive four-man pass rush that sacked him six times, forced him into three turnovers and was so consistently effective that Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio never once had to dial up a blitz to rattle him.
Barkley’s totals of 2,504 rushing yards and 18 touchdown runs in the regular season and postseason capped a big comeback for NFL running backs in a season that began with many veterans switching jerseys and helping propel their new teams toward the playoffs.
- Derrick Henry left the Tennessee Titans for the Baltimore Ravens and rushed for 1,921 yards and an NFL-best 16 touchdowns, then added 270 yards and three TDs in the playoffs.
- Aaron Jones left the Green Bay Packers for the rival Minnesota Vikings and set career highs with 255 carries for 1,138 yards to go with seven total touchdowns.
- The Packers replaced Jones with Josh Jacobs, who left the Las Vegas Raiders for the green and gold and ran for 1,329 yards and a career-high 15 touchdowns.
- Joe Mixon bolted the Cincinnati Bengals for the Houston Texans and ran for 1,016 yards and 11 touchdowns, adding 194 yards and two scores in the playoffs.
None did better than Barkley, though, who won AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors and entered Sunday just 30 yards shy of topping Davis’ total set in 1998, when he helped the Broncos win their second straight Super Bowl.
Barkley’s seven touchdowns of 60-plus yards (including the postseason) was another record, and he joined Davis as the only players in NFL history with at least 400 rushing yards and five touchdowns in a single postseason.
“It was a hell of a year,” Barkley said, “but all of the numbers and stats or records are cool, but the best thing is to be able to hold that Lombardi Trophy.”