It didn’t take long for the Philadelphia Eagles to pick up where they left off on their dominant offensive showing in the first half against the Los Angeles Rams on “Sunday Night Football.”
Literally on the first play from scrimmage at the start of the third quarter, running back Saquon Barkley took the ball 70 yards to the house to extend Philadelphia’s lead to 20-7.
Barkley made a smooth head fake and cut to his right as he got to the second level of the defense, turning on the jets to beat four Rams in pursuit down the sideline.
The explosive run gave him a whopping 143 rushing yards on the night with the whole second half ahead.
Philadelphia (8-2) is looking to put distance between itself and the division rival Washington Commanders (7-5), setting itself up to clinch the NFC East in the next few weeks.
Barkley entered Week 12 with the second-most rushing yards in the league (1,137), trailing only Baltimore’s Derrick Henry (1,185).
He’ll exit Sunday’s contest in the lead, but Henry will have his opportunity to respond on “Monday Night Football” against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Barkley has never finished a season as the league’s leading rusher but is well on pace to break his career high (1,312 yards in 2022).