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Saquon Barkley pulls off wild backward hurdle to stun Jaguars, convert first down

The Eagles held on to beat the Jaguars 28-23 on Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia

ryan young
Staff writer
·3 min read
188

Saquon Barkley has hurdled plenty of defenders throughout his football career, even dating back to a contest at Kinnick Stadium when he was at Penn State.

But on Sunday afternoon, Barkley did something very few (if any) running backs have ever successfully pulled off. He whipped out a backward hurdle.

Barkley, early in the Philadelphia Eagles’ matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars, caught a pass from Jalen Hurts and started working his way past a pair of defenders. As he got to his third, Barkley turned completely around and hurdled cornerback Jarrian Jones with his back to him before he was finally brought down.

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All Jones could do was stare in disbelief behind him after what should’ve been a sure tackle turned into a complete miss.

"It was the best play I've ever seen," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said, via ESPN. "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."

Barkley turned that play into a 14-yard gain, which gave the Eagles the first down and kept their drive alive. Jake Elliott hit a 43-yard field goal to end the drive to put Philadelphia up 10-0 early in the second quarter. Barkley put the Eagles on the board on their first drive of the game, too, after he caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Hurts in the corner of the end zone. Barkley added a 19-yard rushing touchdown just before halftime.

Barkley entered Sunday’s contest at Lincoln Financial Field with 766 rushing yards and five touchdowns this season, his first with the Eagles after he spent the first six of his career with the New York Giants. Barkley has run for more than 100 yards in four games this season — including against the Giants last month, where he put up a near-career-high 176 yards on just 17 carries. That was his best rushing performance in years, and it marked the second-best rushing day for a running back against their former team in NFL history.

Saquon Barkley headshot
Saquon Barkley
Q
RB - PHI - #26
2024 - 2025 season
925
Yds
115.6
Y/G
5.9
YPC
6
TD
65
Long

While Barkley finished the game with 159 rushing yards on 27 carries, and another 40 receiving yards on three catches, the Eagles nearly their lead in the second half. The Jaguars put up 16 points in the third quarter, and then were in position to score a game-winning touchdown inside the two-minute warning, but Trevor Lawrence threw an interception in the end zone.

That sealed the Eagles' 28-23 win and pushed them to 6-2 on the season. They've now won four straight heading into next week's battle against the Dallas Cowboys.