When it comes to snow games, Shady knows best.
Back in 2013, Eagles legend LeSean McCoy set a then-franchise record with 217 rushing yards in a blizzardy Week 14 showdown against the Detroit Lions, gliding across the powder at Lincoln Financial Field for two touchdown runs of 40 or more yards each.
With inclement weather again forecast in Philadelphia for Sunday’s Divisional Round game with the Los Angeles Rams, the Eagles’ current star running back, Saquon Barkley, plans to phone a friend in preparation.
“Definitely going to call Shady just in case we do get some snow,” Barkley told reporters Friday. “See what he did because it don’t make sense how he was able to cut in that snow. You could just see he was on a whole different level.”
Having grown up in the northeast and played college ball at Penn State before becoming a New York Giant and finally an Eagle this season, Barkley is no stranger to snow.
Nor is the ninth and newest member of the 2,000-yard rushing club new to operating on a different level himself.
Still, any intel is welcome when a trip to the NFC Championship Game is on the line — especially considering the Rams’ defensive hot streak and likely increased focus on Barkley after he undid them so ruthlessly in the regular season.
In Week 12, Barkley ran roughshod over Los Angeles, breaking McCoy’s previous single-game franchise rushing record with 255 yards and also setting an Eagles record for yards from scrimmage with 302. He scored twice, gargantuan outbursts of 70 and 72 yards. It was the most yards, both rushing and scrimmage, the Rams have ever allowed to a single player.
For as great as his performance was, though, Barkley is aware that the past two months have proven transformative for a young L.A. defense coming into its own.
In large part due to their D, the Rams haven’t lost a contest in which they’ve played their starters since that embarrassment, and from Week 15 through Wild Card Weekend have allowed 12.6 points per game and 96.6 rushing yards per game without giving up a single TD on the ground.
“They’re a way better team than they were on defense,” Barkley said. “In my opinion, watching film of them and seeing how much they’ve improved, they’re playing great football on that side right now. We know it’s going to be a challenge. When you rush for over 300 yards against a team, they’re going to have some type of game plan to make sure it don’t happen again.”
It’s fitting that the Rams’ next test pits them against the team and player that gashed them to historical proportions just before their late-season turnaround began.
But snow or no, and regardless of L.A.’s improvement, Barkley is confident his Eagles can reign victorious once again.
“I don’t really buy into the weather thing,” he said. “Whoever comes out there and executes is going to be the team that’s going to win. That’s my mindset. I trust in the system that we have and I trust in the game plan that we have. … Whether it’s five degrees or 90, just got to go out there and execute and we’re going to be alright.”
