The Philadelphia Eagles are flying high after a 26-18 win over the Washington Commanders, marking their sixth straight win of the NFL season. Much of the team’s recent success is owed to star running back Saquon Barkley, who has racked up at least 100 rushing yards in four of his last five games.
Barkley certainly has a penchant for breaking through defensive gaps and ripping off chunk runs to keep Eagles’ drives moving downfield. As for scoring goal-line touchdowns? Not so much.
The Pro Bowl back has been tackled at the 1-yard line a total of nine times this season, the most in the league. However, Barkley has failed to score a touchdown on the ensuing play in any of those instances—quarterback Jalen Hurts usually finishes the job for him via quarterback sneak.
Coach Nick Sirianni was asked in a recent press conference whether he has considered giving the ball to Barkley during those goal line chances. His answer will deflate the running back’s fantasy managers:
"You always think about that. I think one thing we think about a lot in the red zone… a quarterback sneak, it's tough to lose yardage there," Sirianni said. “We’ve had a lot of success with the quarterback sneak. Jalen has scored a lot of touchdowns. So there are times where, yeah—again, I want to be careful how I’m answering this, but I again want to answer your question. That’s probably the best way I can say that. Saquon has done a great job.”
Sirianni logically pointed out that the “worst” possible outcome in red zone territory would be to lose yardage. For the Eagles, the quarterback sneak is, after all, a tried-and-true method of punching in scores.
Barkley still has 10 total touchdowns on the year, is leading the league with 113.7 rushing yards per game and is on pace for his career-best season since his explosive rookie campaign with the New York Giants back in 2018. As long as Philly keeps winning, Barkley should have little issue with Hurts poaching his goal line opportunities.
