Sitting Saquon Was An Easy Decision For Eagles

Once the No. 1 seed was out of the equation, the Eagles decision to rets Saquon Barkley was an easy one.

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. / Peter Casey-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA -  The eyes were always on the prize at the NovaCare Complex.

The public was let in on that Wednesday when Nick Sirianni admitted “We’re gonna rest some guys” on Sunday against the New York Giants.

The Eagles coach later confirmed Saquon Barkley is among the group that will be taking the afternoon off against the 3-13 Giants.

At 13-3 and locked into the No. 2 seed on the NFC side of the playoff bracket, that obvious conclusion was complicated by Barkley’s proximity to Eric Dickerson’s all-time NFL rushing record of 2,105 yards that has stood for 40 years.

Barkley will finish 100 yards short of Dickerson at 2,005 and it’s more than likely that had he played against his old team, a 12th game of over 100 yards this season would have been a fait accompli.

"Obviously, it’s a very special record that’s been standing for a very long time by a very great player,” Sirianni said. “It’s a team record that everybody’s involved in. You weigh all those things. But at the end of the day, you just try to do what’s best for you the team.”

Of course, that would not only mean Barkley risking injury over potentially 60 minutes of meaningless football with the postseason looming but also his supporting cast like the offensive line.

This decision was made with a contingency before last Sunday’s 41-7 rout over Dallas when the Eagles kept Barkley in for a season-high 31 carries to ensure that the star RB became only the ninth man in NFL history to crack 2K.

Once that demarcation line was crossed Sirianni immediately removed Barkley from the game, foreshadowing Wednesday’s decision.

The only reason it took this long is that the two teams that will be dueling for the No. 1 seed in the conference – Minnesota and Detroit – played after the Eagles win on Sunday.

Had either lost, the Eagles would have had at least a path to the No. 1 seed and perhaps Barkley and all the other starters would have had to play against the Giants. 

The players were then given off Monday and Sirianni told reporters that he would be telling the team his plans first before alerting the outside world.

By this afternoon, that was accomplished and Sirianni mercifully ended the narrative of the uninitiated.

There are no parades on Broad Street for breaking rushing records but there will be one if the Eagles can navigate their way through the playoffs. The best way to accomplish the latter for a team that will be playing for a 13th consecutive week without a break was to give as many key contributors as possible that break.

“That definitely played into all the decisions here, our bye week being Week 5, very early bye week,” Sirianni said. “And so it’s very valuable to be in this position to do that. And so, again, this isn’t our first time having to do this. We’ve had experience with this. A lot of that went into planning all these things. We want to use this week to continue to get better.”

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