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Was S. BARKLEY the least important offensive player in the SB for Philly ?

I

IDEXAN

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Time to talk again about the importance of running backs in the 21st century of the NFL.
IMO Barkley was basically a non factor in the Eagles blowout of the Chiefs in last nights
game.
Every Olineman was critical, as were the receivers. Barkely finishes with like 55 yards at less than
2.5 yards a carry when the Eagles score 40. Philly's backup RB(whoever that is ?), probably could have accomplished that much.
 
IDEXAN said:
Time to talk again about the importance of running backs in the 21st century of the NFL.
IMO Barkley was basically a non factor in the Eagles blowout of the Chiefs in last nights
game.
Every Olineman was critical, as were the receivers. Barkely finishes with like 55 yards at less than
2.5 yards a carry when the Eagles score 40. Philly's backup RB(whoever that is ?), probably could have accomplished that much.
Click to expand...
The thing is, he was a factor!
The Chiefs sold out on stopping him and the deep passing game and this allowed Hurts to have some damaging runs in the vacant area behind their Dline.
Plus he caught 3-4 passes and one put the Eagles inside the 5.
 
IDEXAN said:
Time to talk again about the importance of running backs in the 21st century of the NFL.
IMO Barkley was basically a non factor in the Eagles blowout of the Chiefs in last nights
game.
Every Olineman was critical, as were the receivers. Barkely finishes with like 55 yards at less than
2.5 yards a carry when the Eagles score 40. Philly's backup RB(whoever that is ?), probably could have accomplished that much.
Click to expand...
It was clear that stopping the run was the Chiefs primary focus on defense. Didn't really matter considering the dismantling of Mahomes by the Eagles defense.
 
Lucky said:
It was clear that stopping the run was the Chiefs primary focus on defense. Didn't really matter considering the dismantling of Mahomes by the Eagles defense.
Click to expand...
Damien Pierce could have filled in for Barkley last night.
Who uses a top 5 pick on a RB ? The Giants, the Jags, some hapless ole gezzer like Jerry Jones ?
You never see top GMs like Veach or the Eagles GM, Howie somebody, using high picks
on backs but of course they never have high Draft picks because they are too succesful.
 
IDEXAN said:
Damien Pierce could have filled in for Barkley last night.
Who uses a top 5 pick on a RB ? The Giants, the Jags, some hapless ole gezzer like Jerry Jones ?
You never see top GMs like Veach or the Eagles GM, Howie somebody, using high picks
on backs but of course they never have high Draft picks because they are too succesful.
Click to expand...

But the superbowl winning team just went out and made saquon the 4th highest paid rb in the nfl?

And pierce could not have filled in for Barkley. They wouldnt have been geared up to stop the run like that which helped to open up their passing game.

It was clear the chiefs main defensive focus was not letting Barkley beat them on the ground or with catches out of the backfield. Teams dont game plan for non factors.
 
Barkley cap <$4 million this ending season; not bad for his production.
2025 <$7 million with a buy out option. A brilliant move by Eagles that fortunately worked. How it goes in 2025 is anyone's guess. Let's see, a running back is supposed to eat up the clock, maintain possession and keep the opponent's quarterback off the field. He is supposed to be a safety net for the quarterback and potentially a leader on the field and in the clubhouse. Check. Hopefully causes defense to focus on him rather than receivers/TEs. Check.

Houston made a very similar contract with Joe Mixon paying him even more at 5 million for ending season and ~$10 m in 2025 with much less results.

Most seem to be ok with Joe?

Start with an agenda [1.trade or don't trade Tunsil because I wanna or I don't wanna no matter how it benefits team. 2. Draft a TE despite being unsuccessful or used incorrectly, but draft one cause Eagles and Chiefs have one. 3. Have no concept about how the salary cap works or releases/trades impact it but insist on certain moves anyway. 4. Go get a [fill in position] player(s) whether guy exist or not or is too expensive. 5. You cannot draft a running back or offensive guard in round one.
6. GM is great or horrible depending on 1 or 3 'moves'.]
Continue to push agenda despite facts to dispute the declaration..
 
xtruroyaltyx said:
But the superbowl winning team just went out and made saquon the 4th highest paid rb in the nfl?

And pierce could not have filled in for Barkley. They wouldnt have been geared up to stop the run like that which helped to open up their passing game.

It was clear the chiefs main defensive focus was not letting Barkley beat them on the ground or with catches out of the backfield. Teams dont game plan for non factors.
Click to expand...
Barkley is having an outstanding rushing season primarily because of the offense, especially the Oline, he's surrouned by.
Prior to coming to Philly Barkley was averaging 1000-1100 yards per season over 5 years with the NYG, a very average offense. Oh BTW there's about a dozen other backs in the NFL this season who had > 1,000 rushing yards.
 
Lucky said:
Weird that you picked the season where the status of RBs have been elevated and an upcoming draft that may have a top 5 pick at RB.
Click to expand...
I picked this season because it's the season a back who had a 2K regular season was a total
nonfactor in his teams SB victory that included a 40 point production by his offense.
Top RB pick ? No I won't be at all surprised if after 3-4 scoth & waters Cowboys owner/GM
J. Jones moves up into the top 5 to draft the B-State RB.
 
IDEXAN said:
Oh BTW there's about a dozen other backs in the NFL this season who had > 1,000 rushing yards.
Click to expand...
16 RBs ran for over 1000 yards this season. That's as many 1000 yards rushers in a season since 2010 when 17 RBs topped the 1000 yard mark. 10 of the 16 1000 yard rushers played for the 14 playoff teams, including the Super Bowl champs.

Why the increased emphasis on running the football? I believe teams are beginning to value the RB position again. A running game can help control the clock, keep your defense fresh, and slow the pass rush. The Eagles had no fear of the Chiefs running game and feasted on Mahomes. A good running game could have slowed that pash rush and opened up playaction for Mahomes. Could have been a completely different game.
 
Lucky said:
The Eagles had no fear of the Chiefs running game and feasted on Mahomes. A good running game could have slowed that pash rush and opened up playaction for Mahomes. Could have been a completely different game.
Click to expand...
Damn straight the Eagles didn't fear the Chiefs rushing offense and that was because their
Front 7 was crushing the Chiefs Oline, and not so much because the Chiefs were deficient @ RB.
 
Barkley was a factor in that the Chiefs were dead set on him not beating them. They game planned to take out a RB and he still had 97 scrimmage yards. I don’t know where the Eagles are without Barkley this season. What I do know is that Eagles RBs not named Barkley averaged 3.5 yards per carry. Barkley 5.8. Nobody had more run plays this season than the Eagles. Nobody had fewer pass plays this season than the Eagles. That didn’t change in this game where Philly had 25 pass plays to 45 run plays.

Granted, Hurts plays a big part in that but he averaged 4.2 YPC this season. Then there’s the fact that when Philly does have to pass they’re pretty efficient at it.

Kansas City OTOH, had absolutely no run threat and that hurt them IMO. I think that allowed Philly to crank up their pass rush, and unlike Spagnuolo attacking the Eagles strength and the Eagles being able to fall back on their pass game when needed, the Chiefs had nothing to fall back on if Fangio attacked their strength like he did.

So IMO Barkley did make a difference in this game even though his numbers aren’t what we’ve seen most of the season.

As for whether that changes how the league sees the RB position, I couldn’t tell you. I do think they’re more important than the under valued trend they seem to be in these days. I mean 23 RBs had at least 200 touches this season, not including receptions. The most touches a WR had this season was 127, and only 8 WRs had 100+ catches.
 
You saw the same thing In the 85’ SB. The pats were determined to bottle up Payton and were successful, but it made life easy for McMahon & this is where stats lie to guys who & don’t know how to measure the full impact of a player. Barkley had like 5 TD’s of 60 yds or more this season so It’s quite the opposite to what you’re asserting actually. It makes him the most important player b/c he demanded the attention from the Chiefs defense being the serious game breaker he was. And the Chiefs made a deliberate and concerted effort to limit him in the run game by building a wall & forcing him to run sideways…that’s a full front 7 commitment plus Justin Reid flying down hill filling the gap between the tackles and WR any time there was even a hint that he would get the ball b/c he’s equally dangerous carrying the as well as catching it out of the backfield.

All the attention he was getting left the CB’s out there on islands with little help up top & underneath. That’s why when Spags blitzed, Hurts & the Eagles took shots downfield; they knew they had the advantage with Brown & Smith against their DB’s.

Without Barkley they’re probably playing the run on their way to qb instead of what they were doing.
 
IDEXAN said:
I picked this season because it's the season a back who had a 2K regular season was a total
nonfactor in his teams SB victory that included a 40 point production by his offense.
Top RB pick ? No I won't be at all surprised if after 3-4 scoth & waters Cowboys owner/GM
J. Jones moves up into the top 5 to draft the B-State RB.
Click to expand...

See, Barkley had an impact in this SB b/c he forced Spags to focus his scheme on stopping him….even assigning a shadow.

More importantly, are the Eagles even playing in he Super Bowl without Barkley giving them a run game this season?

What should the Texans take away from this? Fix your ducking OL, b/c the majority of the offensive pieces needed are on the roster.
 
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IDEXAN said:
Barkley is having an outstanding rushing season primarily because of the offense, especially the Oline, he's surrouned by.
Prior to coming to Philly Barkley was averaging 1000-1100 yards per season over 5 years with the NYG, a very average offense. Oh BTW there's about a dozen other backs in the NFL this season who had > 1,000 rushing yards.
Click to expand...

You should write a letter to Philly letting them know they made a mistake and could have gotten a dozen other backs or maybe even Pierce and could have gotten similar results.
 
K
OptimisticTexan said:
See, Barkley had an impact in this SB b/c he forced Spags to focus his scheme on stopping him….even assigning a shadow.

More importantly, are the Eagles even playing in he Super Bowl without Barkley giving them a run game this season?

What should the Texans take away from this? Fix your ducking OL, b/c the majority of the offensive pieces needed are on the roster.
Click to expand...
Yes sir fixing the Oline is the #1 priority IMO.
 
It should be pointed out that the Chiefs haven't allowed a 100 yard rusher from a RB the entire season. So maybe they weren't necessarily keying on stopping Barkley, it's just what they do. And again, Barkley still had 97 yards from scrimmage.

There were 10 players who rushed for 1,100 yards or more this season. 7 were on teams that made the playoffs. There were 11 WR with 1,100 or more yards. Only 3 were on teams who made the playoffs. 8 of the top 11 teams in rushing yards made the playoffs including all of the top 6. So why is it that WRs are valued much, much more than RBs again?
 
Speedy said:
Barkley was a factor in that the Chiefs were dead set on him not beating them. They game planned to take out a RB and he still had 97 scrimmage yards. I don’t know where the Eagles are without Barkley this season. What I do know is that Eagles RBs not named Barkley averaged 3.5 yards per carry. Barkley 5.8. Nobody had more run plays this season than the Eagles. Nobody had fewer pass plays this season than the Eagles. That didn’t change in this game where Philly had 25 pass plays to 45 run plays.

Granted, Hurts plays a big part in that but he averaged 4.2 YPC this season. Then there’s the fact that when Philly does have to pass they’re pretty efficient at it.

Kansas City OTOH, had absolutely no run threat and that hurt them IMO. I think that allowed Philly to crank up their pass rush, and unlike Spagnuolo attacking the Eagles strength and the Eagles being able to fall back on their pass game when needed, the Chiefs had nothing to fall back on if Fangio attacked their strength like he did.

So IMO Barkley did make a difference in this game even though his numbers aren’t what we’ve seen most of the season.

As for whether that changes how the league sees the RB position, I couldn’t tell you. I do think they’re more important than the under valued trend they seem to be in these days. I mean 23 RBs had at least 200 touches this season, not including receptions. The most touches a WR had this season was 127, and only 8 WRs had 100+ catches.
Click to expand...
Hey Speedy, check out Barkley's stats with the Giants before signing in free agency with the
Eagles: trust me he was nothing special with that broke-azz offense in the Big Apple.
 
Speedy said:
He had two 1,300 yard seasons with them and 4 seasons of 1,200+ yards from scrimmage, so I don't get where you're coming from.
Click to expand...
His rookie year appears to be the only one in the same ball park as this past year in Philly,
and that's of course when his speed & athleticism were at their peak and before his knee blew out.
 
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IDEXAN said:
Damn straight the Eagles didn't fear the Chiefs rushing offense and that was because their
Front 7 was crushing the Chiefs Oline, and not so much because the Chiefs were deficient @ RB.
Click to expand...
Exactly

Give Mixon the Eagles OL and I'll bet you he looks more like Barkley than what he did running behind the dumbasses that comprised the Texans OL/TE rooms.
 
Mr teX said:
You saw the same thing In the 85’ SB. The pats were determined to bottle up Payton and were successful, but it made life easy for McMahon & this is where stats lie to guys who & don’t know how to measure the full impact of a player. Barkley had like 5 TD’s of 60 yds or more this season so It’s quite the opposite to what you’re asserting actually. It makes him the most important player b/c he demanded the attention from the Chiefs defense being the serious game breaker he was. And the Chiefs made a deliberate and concerted effort to limit him in the run game by building a wall & forcing him to run sideways…that’s a full front 7 commitment plus Justin Reid flying down hill filling the gap between the tackles and WR any time there was even a hint that he would get the ball b/c he’s equally dangerous carrying the as well as catching it out of the backfield.

All the attention he was getting left the CB’s out there on islands with little help up top & underneath. That’s why when Spags blitzed, Hurts & the Eagles took shots downfield; they knew they had the advantage with Brown & Smith against their DB’s.

Without Barkley they’re probably playing the run on their way to qb instead of what they were doing.
Click to expand...
Barkley took the pressure off of Hurts. Hurts played great and really hurt the Chiefs defense with his legs as well as being as accurate as I've seen him all yr in the biggest game of the yr. Kudo's to a local guy coming up big on the biggest of stages.
 
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OptimisticTexan said:
See, Barkley had an impact in this SB b/c he forced Spags to focus his scheme on stopping him….even assigning a shadow.

More importantly, are the Eagles even playing in he Super Bowl without Barkley giving them a run game this season?

What should the Texans take away from this? Fix your ducking OL, b/c the majority of the offensive pieces needed are on the roster.
Click to expand...
They need to fix the OL 1st and foremost, find a TE that is somewhat a receiving threat, but most of all can block. They also need to find another WR that can stretch the field opposite Nico.

The Texans could sign Becton, draft Booker and their OL while not as good as the Eagles, Lane Johnson is the best RT in the NFL, the OL would be top 10 IMHO. What they dont have is Goeddert at TE. Also they dont have speed in their WR corps like the Eagles do other than Nico. (Brown/Smith/Dotson) Even Dotson had the speed to beat the DB covering him in the SB for a long near TD. Nobody fears the Texans WR's other than Nico.

I'm hoping this off-season they can fix the OL and find at least 1 WR that can stretch a defense. They're going to have to draft and develop a difference making TE. The Texans defense is as good as the Eagles defense although they're a different style defense.
 
Speedy said:
Well, to be fair, the ballpark he was in this year is in rarified air. Not many in the history of the game go there. Other than that he's still been a top tier RB even for the Giants.
Click to expand...
Yes he has been a top RB and he didn't make a difference until he got to run behind the Eagles OL.
 
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