The Eagles are back in the NFC Championship Game and will face an upstart divisional rival in Washington at home on Sunday. After their huge win over the Rams and before this matchup with the Commanders, here are five thoughts I currently have about the Birds…
Saquon Barkley taunting Jared Verse endeared him to Philadelphia once more
On the first of Saquon Barkley's two home run touchdowns against the Rams, he broke off a 62-yarder into the end zone that had Lincoln Financial Field going wild. Paired with some maulers on the offensive line, Barkley's burst when hitting the second and third levels of defenses are unparalleled in the NFL right now, but the superstar back noticeably slowed down before he crossed the goal line.
Why?
Rams standout rookie Jared Verse was chasing him down.
SAQUON BARKLEY OH MY
📺: #LARvsPHI on NBC
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/bh3kTy2IqP— NFL (@NFL) January 19, 2025
Verse ran his mouth last week, saying how much he hates Eagles fans. That stems from the way the Philadelphia faithful showed up to the Eagles-Rams game out West back in November. Hey, pal. That was a Rams home game. Eagles fans were doing their job traveling for their team and creating a great environment for the Birds on the road.
The Eagles themselves were certainly aware of Verse's comments. Barkley made sure Verse, the likely Defensive Rookie of the Year winner, got a great look at him for first of two legendary TD runs on the day.
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Verse had a great game, picking up multiple sacks, but he was just a tad too slow on that one and goes down as yet another failure of a villain in Philadelphia sports lore.
Give Nick Sirianni credit for this Eagles run
It's not the first time I'm saying this during the course of this season… if Nick Sirianni rightfully deserved scorn for the way the Birds burned out at the end of the 2023 campaign, he deserves adoration for righting this ship for a potential return to the Super Bowl for the second time in three seasons.
Sirianni has been to the playoffs every year of his career. He's fifth all time in regular season winning percentage in NFL history. He now has as many playoff wins with the Eagles as Super Bowl-winning coach Doug Pederson. He has two NFC title game appearances in his first four seasons with the Birds, the same amount as Andy Reid, who never reached the Super Bowl during that span. Sirianni already has and is the favorite to do so again this winter.
Even with all of that, this is my favorite Sirianni statistic following the Birds' win over the Rams:
Nick Sirianni now has as many playoff wins as the last 6 Dallas Cowboy coaches combined.
— Tommy Lawlor (@lawlornfl) January 20, 2025
The Eagles have a good locker room. They're a perennial playoff team with Super Bowl-or-bust aspirations. They have an immensely talented roster, but the head coach is doing exactly what he needs to keep them going, too.
Jalen Carter will go down as one of the greatest Eagles defenders ever
Hyperbole? Recency bias? I say no. Carter is a mega talent. He's a game-wrecker already in his second year. If Carter doesn't have an earth-shaking sack on Matthew Stafford on the Rams' final drive, what's the state of Philadelphia this Monday morning?
JALEN CARTER SACK!
📺: #LARvsPHI on NBC
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/xbICRDUTHw— NFL (@NFL) January 19, 2025
The Eagles moved up one selection, from the 10th pick to the ninth, in the 2023 NFL Draft for Carter. They parted with a fourth-round pick to Chicago for the honor of taking one of the most dominant collegiate players ever who's done everything he's needed to do so far in his pro career. The Bears used the 10th pick on offensive lineman Darnell Wright and that extra fourth-rounder on punter Tony Taylor.
Good teams stay good. Bad teams stay bad.
Could Saquon Barkley break another Eagles record this season?
I'll do one final Barkley tidbit for this column.
In two career playoff games with the Birds, Barkley has 324 rushing yards. He's incredible. That already puts him sixth all time in playoff career rushing yards in franchise history (via Stathead):
| Player | Playoff Games | Rushing Yards |
| Brian Westbrook | 11 | 591 |
| Wilbert Montgomery | 7 | 518 |
| Donovan McNabb | 16 | 422 |
| Duce Staley | 7 | 384 |
| Steve Van Buren | 4 | 365 |
| Saquon Barkley | 2 | 324 |
| Jalen Hurts | 7 | 293 |
Again… Barkley has done that in just two games. He'd need to average 134 yards over the course of the NFC Championship Game and, if the Eagles advance, the Super Bowl to overtake Brian Westbrook at the top of the list. If this season has taught the football world anything, it's to not bet against Barkley.
The Eagles' playoff loss article that was never written
It was an instantly iconic game this past Sunday, but when the Eagles surrendered a safety late in the third quarter, cutting their lead to just a single point and Los Angeles getting the ball back, things were in the gutter. It looked like the hearts of everyone at the Linc were all about to be ripped out of their chests over the next 15-plus minutes.
In close games, it can be a bit tough at times to prewrite my "Final observations" columns. Some specific takeaways work win or lose, but when looking at the big picture tonally, the result in the win-loss column defines it all. This was my never-used title for what I thought was about to transpire in South Philly: "Final observations: Eagles waste away golden path to Super Bowl with lifeless loss to Rams." Well, fortunately for the Delaware Valley, that never saw publication.
That path now looks better and better…
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