5 Wild Saquon Barkley Stats

“Let the other guys eat.” - Saquon Barkley to Nick Sirianni when asked whether he wanted to chase a 200-yard day.

What a great attitude from the Eagles’ star running back. And what a great game: 17 carries for 176 yards and a TD, plus a pair of receptions for 11 more yards.

Some wild Barkley statistics lead off the newsletter on this Victory Monday. We’ll also talk Flyers and Union.

In the email today:

• 😮 5 Wild Saquon Barkley Stats

• 🚨 Flyers Already Showing Signs of Long Season Ahead

• 🪦 Union Miss Playoffs for First Time in Six Seasons

  • 📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

  • 📊 Poll

  • 🔗 Links

  • 📺 Coming Up

1) Two of Saquon Barkley’s top single-game rushing totals came with the Eagles.

Barkley played 74 games as a New York Giant. He has played just six as an Eagle. But take a look at his top single-game rushing totals:

• 189 yards for the Giants (@ Washington, 12.22.2019)

• 176 yards for the Eagles (@ New York, 10.20.2024)

• 170 yards for the Giants (@ Washington, 12.9.2018)

• 164 yards for the Giants (@ Tennessee, 9.11.2022)

• 152 yards for the Giants (vs Houston, 11.13.2022)

• 147 yards for the Eagles (@ New Orleans, 9.22.2024)

2) Barkley outgained and outscored the entire Giants offense by himself on Sunday.

Barkley: 187 total yards, 1 TD

Giants: 119 total yards, 0 TD

3) Is this good? It seems good.

4) Saquon Barkley vs Saquon Barkley.

Barkley has 761 yards from scrimmage in his first six games with the Eagles. That’s the most yards in a player’s first six games with his new team since… Barkley with the Giants in his 2018 rookie season.

5) This one’s just hilarious.

There was actual buzz around the Flyers in the preseason. The injection of youth (Matvei Michkov and Jett Luchanko specifically) gave Flyers fans something to get excited about.

Unfortunately, neither Michkov nor Luchanko can play in goal. That’s too bad, because through five games the Flyers have the worst goal difference in the Eastern Conference.

Despite the Flyers starting the season with a losing road trip, the Wells Fargo Center was hopping before the puck dropped Saturday night. The Orange and Black had an opportunity to create belief in the new season.

But they were down 1-0 after the first period and 3-0 after the second period. The losing was bad — the general lack of anything resembling energy was worse.

Any combination of “not that talented” and “prone to getting outworked” is going to be problematic.

And unfortunately, even the Flyers’ best goaltending prospect in some time probably isn’t the answer right now.

Right. It’s only five games out of 82. There’s time to turn things around.

But the Flyers really could have used a fast start to this season as they try to avoid a fifth straight campaign without a playoff appearance.

Giving up more than four goals a game isn’t the way.

Two short years ago, the Union were one stoppage time goal away from winning MLS Cup. Gareth Bale, who was pretty much retired at that point, scored that goal.

From that moment, almost everything Union-adjacent has gone pear-shaped. Saturday night, the Union got the help they needed to limp into the playoffs. All they had to do was win at home (as a favorite). Welp.

The seeds for this deflating end to the Union’s greatest era were planted over the past two seasons as the club sold off most of its best players:

• Paxten Aaronson, January 2023

• Julian Carranza, June 2024

• Jose Martinez, August 2024

• Damion Lowe, August 2024

Aaronson and Lowe were solid contributors whose reliable quality was proven by the failures of the players who took their places.

But the departures of Carranza and Martinez were something else altogether, and cut the beating heart out of what was left of the Union.

Be happy it happened rather than sad it’s over, they say. Maybe.

For Union fans, though, Saturday night’s wet flatulence of a “must-win” match — at home — felt like the end of more than just a season.

As the league continues to expand and Union ownership persists in refusing to spend money on talent, the club’s path back to the top of MLS is muddy and unclear.

The Union might want to bronze that tweet, because after finishing 12th in the Eastern Conference this season, another sellout season in 2025 is probably not going to happen.

Every fan base has its breaking point. Saturday night’s outcome was the embodiment of “broken.”

📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

The joy of winning a franchise’s first World Series after generations of futility:

📊 Poll

Results from Friday:

🔗 Links

• 🚑️ Karma had a day.

• ⚾️ The Yankees are back in the World Series for the first time since, well, the Series in 2009 when they beat the Phillies.

• ✈️ Haason Reddick is going back to work for the Jets.

• 🇦🇷 Apparently, putting Lionel Messi in MLS was sort of unfair.

• 🦅 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has thoughts about how to turn the vote out.

📺 Coming Up

No games for the locals tonight. Maybe watch the Eagles game on DVR!

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.

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