SÃO PAULO – DeVonta Smith is a man of few words, so he found a succinct way to explain what he saw from Saquon Barkley on Friday night in Brazil.
“He’s different, man,” Smith said, shaking his head. “He’s different.”
In the best sense.
The Eagles have a lot of catching up to do after leaving the Corinthians Arena in São Paulo with a 34-29 win over the Green Bay Packers at the start of the season, but they can be very excited about their new star running back.
Barkley was an absolute star in the opening victory in front of over 47,000 fans in Brazil.
“I know he’s a great player,” Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said. “He played a heck of a game tonight. It’s exciting to watch him play. I’m glad he’s on our side. We’re just going to keep pushing forward. But what a debut for him.”
After spending the first six years of his career with the New York Giants, Barkley signed a three-year, $37.75 million contract with the Eagles in the offseason. A big reason for his move to Philadelphia was to play behind a good offensive line and in an offense with many stars.
But on Friday, Barkley was the star who shone the brightest.
Barkley, 26, finished the game with 26 carries for 132 yards and 3 touchdowns. On the ground, he had 24 carries for 109 yards and 2 scores and he also caught 2 passes for 23 yards, including an impressive 18-yard touchdown catch on a wheel route.
It was just the second three-touchdown game of Barkley’s career and the first since his rookie season. And he is the first player since Terrell Owens 20 years ago to score three touchdowns in his Eagles debut.
“It’s unbelievable,” rookie running back Will Shipley said. “I’m sitting here just smiling because he’s so special. I’ve seen him do this all camp and at OTAs and all that good stuff, but for him to go out there and see it in person. He shined tonight. I was really happy for him. He works his ass off, so nobody deserves it more.”
One of the main reasons the Eagles were interested in Barkley was his ability to gain yards after contact, which we saw on Friday night.
Several of Barkley’s teammates agreed that these big, powerful runs add extra power to the offense.
“Oh yeah,” right tackle Lane Johnson said. “He’s 235 pounds and runs like a 4.3, so he’s a very gifted individual player. He just had one of those freak show catches to start with and is a very dynamic player.”
The 18-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter was the first touchdown of the game, making it the first NFL touchdown ever scored in South America.
This seemed to become clear to Barkley in his post-game press conference.
“Yeah, I’m the first person to ever score a goal in South America,” Barkley said. “That’s cool. I’ll definitely have to try and get the game going, hang it up or display it in my house.”
What was even cooler was that it was so difficult to catch.
Smith said Barkley sometimes joins the receivers to work on his hands and that paid off against the Packers.
“That was great,” Smith said. “Great on the sideline. It’s crazy because we always talk about the catch, the shoulder and stuff. He did a great job of that.”
It wasn’t just the Eagles’ offensive linemen who were excited to see Barkley at work on Friday night. The guys who spent all summer working with him in practice were happy they didn’t have to stop him in a real game.
“I feel so bad for everybody else that has to tackle him,” safety Reed Blankenship said. “Because we had to tackle him when he was with the Giants. He’s a big guy, man, and he’s hard to bring down. I’m glad we have him on our side of the ball.”
But over the last few seasons, Blankenship has had to try to match Barkley in the NFC East battles.
How the hell do you do that?
“It’s tough, man,” Blankenship said. “He’s one of the best backs in the league. He’s got everything. If you don’t get the right angle, he’ll make you miss. If you get the right angle, he’ll run you over. At the end of the day, sometimes it’s an everybody-lose situation.”
But now it’s a win-win situation for the Eagles.
And it helped them to their first win of the 2024 season and undoubtedly made the 9 1/2 hour flight back to Philadelphia a little more pleasant.
When Barkley first signed with the Eagles after six years with the division rival Giants, it was probably a little odd, but that has worn off considerably since then.
“No, not anymore,” said Brandon Graham, laughing. “Now it’s official.”
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