Big Time for Barkley!
Over the last few seasons, a pattern has developed among the Eagles’ running backs. The build of Philadelphia’s offense is the perfect recipe for a back to flourish and overperform. Between their great offensive line, their dangerous passing game, and the threat of Hurts running the ball himself, it’s impossible to play proper defense against their half backs. If we look at the stats, we can see a huge difference in the running back’s production with and without the Philadelphia offense. In his final year in Philadelphia, Miles Sanders put up 4.9 yards per attempt, 1,347 scrimmage yards, and 11 touchdowns. The next season, with the Carolina Panthers, Miles’ production dropped to 3.3 yards per carry, 586 scrimmage yards, and only a single touchdown. On the other hand, Sanders’ replacement, D’Andre Swift put up a career-high in scrimmage yards, beating his previous best by 200 yards.
Even with a mediocre Giants’ offensive line, Saquon Barkley has consistently been one of the top backs in the NFL. Every time Barkley has played 14 or more games in a season, he has put up north of 1,200 scrimmage yards, and his touchdown sum reached double digits. Hence, placing Barkley in an offense that amplifies running backs’ production, should result in Saquon putting up better stats than any other running back in the league. The only question was how would Jason Kelce’s retirement affect the equation. In week 1, Saquon showed us that Kelce’s absence won’t have any impact at all! In his Eagles debut, Barkley exploded for 132 scrimmage yards and 3 touchdowns. Given the recent history of Eagles’ running backs, I don’t think that Saquon’s big performance was a fluke and I would place some serious money on his odds to win Offensive Player of the Year.
Jones is a Joke!
Out of the first 5 seasons of Daniel Jones’ career, we’ve seen one quarterback in 2 and a different quarterback in the other 3. In 2019 and 2022, Jones showed some spark and promise, while in 2020, 2021, and 2023 he’s shown inconsistency and poor decision making. In the two good years, Jones has won 44% of his starts and put up a passer rating of 90.12. In the three bad years, Jones has won 32% of his starts and put up a passer rating of 80.43. It’s become evident that one type of season was the real Daniel Jones and the other was a few flukes. Entering the 6th season of his career, Jones had to prove that his down years were the flukes, or else, his time as an NFL starting quarterback would come to an end.
In the 2024 preseason, Daniel Jones looked awful, turned over the ball frequently, and displayed poor decision-making. However, the preseason doesn’t matter. Unfortunately, in week 1, Jones continued to play the way he had in the preseason. He threw two interceptions, no touchdowns, and the Giants lost by a significant margin. Unless Jones immediately turns around his season, the Giants should begin to look into replacing their quarterback at the end of the season.
Oh Bo, Here We Go Again…
As a fan of the Denver Broncos, I’m not upset with Bo Nix for his poor showing in his debut. Rather, I’m upset with myself for believing that things would be different this year. I believed Nix would be good because of his great fit in the Sean Payton offense. Nix is great at taking what the defense gives him, getting the ball out quickly, and reading the defense. Nonetheless, the Denver running game was so poor that Nix was forced to throw 42 times and push the ball downfield in obvious passing situations. The moment he was slightly out of his comfort zone, Nix struggled, throwing 2 interceptions and only picking up 3.3 yards per attempt. If the Broncos’ supporting cast isn’t good enough to allow Nix to stay in his comfort zone, and Nix is horrible outside of his comfort zone, it’s going to be a long season in Denver. Hopefully, in future seasons, the Broncos will be able to supply Nix with a stronger supporting cast. However, for the foreseeable future, the Broncos’ offense won’t be very successful.
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