Commanders Reveal Plan for Eagles' Saquon Barkley

Saquon Barkley gives the Philadelphia Eagles a weapon against the Washington Commanders.
Nov 3, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) leaps over Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Ronald Darby (25) while running with the ball during the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Nov 3, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) leaps over Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Ronald Darby (25) while running with the ball during the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Washington Commanders face a tough matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, who boast one of the best running backs in football in Saquon Barkley.

Commanders coach Dan Quinn is very familiar with Barkley after preparing against him for years while he was with the New York Giants, and now he has a plan for him for Thursday Night Football.

“It's challenging because of his ability to jump cut and you may be in the right gap where you think you're supposed to be," Quinn said of Barkley. "And he's got such quickness to accelerate out of that cut. So, you don't want a lot of one-man tackles on a ball player of his ability where he can change and spin and use things. He's also an effective player out of the backfield, on screens, on swings, he can catch routes that are down the field that sometimes don't go to the running backs, but in his case they can. So yeah, he's an exceptional player. One that we love competing against, but he really has unique skills, like a lot of guys do. Might be a receiver some weeks, a tight end this week, a quarterback. And so it is kind of a cool part of the NFL. They've got a number of guys that will test you and push you to the limit and that's what makes playing in this, like I said, in this division against this team a lot of fun.”

Barkley, 27, has been on a tear in his first season with the Eagles. He is very likely to reach the 1,000-yard mark in Week 11 for the season as he is only nine away from that milestone. It would mark the fourth 1,000-yard campaign of his career after achieving the accomplishment in 2018, 2019 and 2022.

He also has 21 catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns as a receiver, making him a true dual-threat running back.

If the Commanders can find ways to limit and contain Barkley, their chances of winning will increase.


Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more FREE coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2024 season.

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Jeremy Brener
JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.