PHILADELPHIA — Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is a man of many words, but even he was left “speechless” after running back Saquon Barkley’s reverse hurdle over a defender Sunday in a 28-23 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“It was the best play I’ve ever seen,” Sirianni said. “What I think is so cool, there’s going to be kids all over the country and all over Philadelphia trying to make that play and talking about that play and simulating that play as they play backyard football or peewee football. They ain’t going to be able to make it — I believe he’s the only one in the world that can do that. I’m speechless. It was unbelievable.”
With the Eagles facing a third-and-6 early in the second quarter, Barkley took a pass from Jalen Hurts in the flat, broke a tackle and then put a spin move on Devin Lloyd that had Lloyd grasping at air as he fell to the ground. Barkley was just getting warmed up. He then stepped so his back was to cornerback Jarrian Jones, elevated and blindly leapfrogged Jones for an extra 5 yards on what turned out to be a 14-yard gain.
The fans in attendance rose to their feet and began looking at one another in a state of shock.
“I’ve got to give credit to God, man. I’m not going to lie … I feel like God gave me the ability to play this position and gave me some instincts. Sometimes you’ve got to let go and let God and your instincts take over,” Barkley said.
This wasn’t the first time Barkley has pulled off this move: He jumped backward over an Iowa defender his sophomore year at Penn State but said that one “wasn’t as cool.” This one was off the charts.
“Crazy,” receiver DeVonta Smith said. “I ain’t never seen nothing like it.”
Barkley ended the day with 199 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns. He is just the second player in Eagles history to record 1,000-plus scrimmage yards and eight-plus touchdowns through eight games, joining LeSean McCoy, who was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame Sunday.
Barkley wasn’t the only Eagle who dazzled against Jacksonville. With A.J. Brown sidelined with a knee injury he suffered at the end of the first half, Smith rose to the occasion and made an incredible one-handed catch in the back of the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter that ended up being the difference in the game.
Sirianni had no update on the status of Brown, who did not play in the second half.
“It’s always tough when he goes down because he’s such a dynamic player, such a big part of this team and this offense,” Smith said. “If he goes down, I kind of get the feeling like I have to step up. For me, I’m always ready for the challenge.”
Fellow receiver Jahan Dotson had a circus catch of his own, skying over a defender and tipping the ball to himself early in the third quarter for a 36-yard gain down the left sideline.
“I feel like there were three plays in that game: Dotson, Smitty and Saquon, plays that just make you go, ‘Wow, this is why I love watching football,'” right tackle Lane Johnson said.