Travis Kelce reveals Nick Sirianni's strategy behind Saquon Barkley's reduced usage after A.J. Brown gets his targets

The Philadelphia Eagles ended their two-game losing streak after Sunday's 28-22 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Although the team has got back to winning ways, Saquon Barkley's running game continues to frustrate fans.

While the Eagles running back has showed flashes of his quality on early drives, Barkley's impact has faded in the latter part of the games. Barkley has rushed for just 3.3 yards per carry, and had 18 receptions for just 44 yards on Sunday.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce explained how Nick Sirianni's running plan has impacted Barkley's game. He said on the "New Heights" podcast:

"When you have a 2000 yard rusher, yeah, news flash, everybody's gonna be focused on trying to stop the f**king run... You got to keep changing it up and unfortunately, that means Saquon might not get as many carries, or might not get as many yards and touchdowns and have the crazy 2000 yard season.

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"But it definitely doesn't mean that he's not going to make an impact, and it definitely doesn't mean you're not going to win football games. You just got to keep finding ways week in week out, to adjust to how defenses are trying to stop."

Saquon Barkley acknowledged sluggish running performance for Eagles

Saquon Barkley's 3.3 yards per carry is the lowest ever by an Eagles back in seven games with a minimum 100 carries. Barkley acknowledged his underwhelming numbers this season and admitted he needs to be better.

“I feel like in recent weeks we’ve been really good in the beginning, in the run game,” Barkley said. “We kind of fall off after that and that starts with me. I’ve got to be better.”

Barkley produced remarkable numbers last season, finishing with 2005 yards and 13 touchdowns. However, the running back dismissed any notions of fatigue impacting his performance.

“I don't agree with that,” Barkley said. “We're just not getting the job done. I'm not getting the job done. … It's not because I rushed for 2,000 last year. I hate that narrative. It wasn't like they just handed us 2,000 yards. We just had a different attitude and a different mindset and that starts with me.

Despite the shortcomings and injuries, the Eagles are 5-2 for the season and remain one of the strongest Super Bowl contenders.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash