Eagles Protect the Ball
One of the main reasons the Philadelphia Eagles are playing in Sunday’s Super Bowl, outside of running back Saquon Barkley, has been their ability to protect the football.
In the Eagles three playoff wins over Green Bay, Los Angeles and Washington, the team did not commit a turnover. No fumbles. No interceptions. Nothing.
It goes back further than just the postseason as well.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts, who had four interceptions in his first three games, has not thrown an interception in nine consecutive games. He has just one interception — in a 34-6 win over Dallas — in his last 15 games.
Barkley on 411 carries has lost just one fumble this season in a win over Jacksonville back on Nov. 3. Backup running back Kenneth Gainwell has not fumbled at all season.
“Yeah, first the players going out there and being able to do it is incredible because you’re taking chances at times, too,’’ Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said. “So we emphasize the crap out of it because we know it’s such a telling stat in this game. Our guys have done a nice job protecting it.’’
Eagles Takeaways Key Stat
On the other side of the ball the Eagles defense is forcing turnovers. Since their bye week they are a +27 in take away/give-away and in the postseason they are +12.
Again it’s the players,’’ Sirianni said. “When they go out there and execute that on the defensive side of the ball, that’s easier said than done. Just really proud of them of how they’ve been able to tackle well while also taking the football away. It’s something we emphasize an awful lot. We’ve always done a good job of emphasizing it on offense. I think this year we’ve taken another step and really emphasized it even more so this year as a defense. Every team meeting, we’re looking at ball security, any mistake that’s made in ball security. Every team meeting, we’re looking at good strip attempts or missed strip attempt opportunities.
“Our defensive guys have done a good job taking it away, as well as our special teams guys. You saw [RB] Will [Shipley] get one in the game as well. We drilled the heck out of it, but you’ve got to have talented players to be able to do both, because it is a skill to be able to tackle and take the ball away. And I think the other thing it shows is the effort to the football.’’
Not Just Another Joe
Jalen Hurts has a chance to become just the third quarterback to win a national title in college and a Super Bowl in the NFL. Hurts won the national title with Alabama.
The other two quarterbacks to do so were Joe Namath (Alabama/Jets) and Joe Montana (Notre Dame/49ers).
Barkley’s Numbers
Saquon Barkley could set two records Sunday. He needs just 30 yards to move past Denver’s Terrell Davis for the most yards rushing ever in a season (including playoffs). And he needs 169 yards to move ahead of Washington’s John Riggins for most yards in a postseason.
Davis gained a total of 2,476 yards for the Broncos in 1998. Barkley is at 2,448 heading into Sunday, which is second most.
Riggins ran for 610 playoff yards for Washington in 1982. Barkley, with 442, is in seventh place.
After Riggins comes Davis (581 in 1997), Davis (468 in 1998), Marcus Allen (466 in 1983), Eddie George (449 in 1999) and Derrick Henry (446 in 2019).
It wouldn’t take much for Barkley to at least move into third.
