Saquon Barkley Boldly Crowns the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles as “Top-Five Team of All Time”

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley believes the 2024 Philly franchise should be regarded in the same sentence as the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

Saquon Barkley Boldly Crowns the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles as “Top-Five Team of All Time”

Saquon Barkley (Image via IMAGO)

Saquon Barkley believes that the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl-winning team does not get as much credit as it should. From Barkley’s point of view, the Eagles team is a strong candidate for being a top-five team in NFL history.

Those are some bold remarks from Barkley. If he’s correct, then the 2024 Eagles belong in the same category as the 1972 Miami Dolphins, 1985 Chicago Bears, 2000 Baltimore Ravens, and 2007 New England Patriots.

Saquon Barkley said on the latest segment of Exciting Mics podcast hosted by the Eagles defensive backs Cooper DeJean and Reed Blankenship:

I firmly believe when you look at our team [the Eagles] that we had last year [2024]—I know we’re not looking too far into the past—but our team last year, I think we’re a top-five team of all time.

After their disastrous meltdown in the previous season, the Eagles were written off as one of the contenders for the Super Bowl. After getting off to a 2-2 start, pundits felt the Eagles were still hungover from 2023. However, everything changed from week five.

Barkley was already turning heads with his runs. He racked up multiple 100+ rushing-yard outings. The Eagles eventually established their dominance from week five. They did not lose a single game the rest of the campaign.

Saquon Barkley claimed the camaraderie helped the team a great deal

Barkley was the new member whom the Eagles poached following his release from the Giants last year. The Eagles adopted a run-first system, which differed from Nick Sirianni’s methods since taking charge.

Saquon Barkley Boldly Crowns the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles as Top-Five Team of All Time
Saquon Barkley faces the Green Bay Packers (Image via IMAGO)

It was a risk because the Eagles have one of the best wide receiver duos in the NFL. Barkley seeing more of the ball meant fewer touches for AJ Brown and Devonta Smith. However, it was a risk that was worth taking, and it paid off.

I think we all just bought in… We didn’t care how it looked. The only thing we cared about was winning football games.

Saquon Barkley said

Saquon Barkley led the NFL with 2,005 rushing yards (5.8 per carry) in his first year in Philly. He crossed 100+ yards (crossed 200+ twice) on the ground on twelve occasions after week five. Barkley ended the year with 2,283 yards, 15 touchdowns from scrimmage, and the Offensive Player of the Year award.

The offense was so effective from day one because the defense was solid. On one hand, the Eagles dominated nearly every game; they shut out other NFL teams regularly.

Vic Fangio revitalized the defense that gave up the fewest average yards (278.4) per game and only 33 touchdowns in the regular season (5 touchdowns in the playoffs). Fangio’s defense ranked second in scores allowed and fifth in red-zone efficiency.

The stars on the defense were rookies DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell, along with Blankenship, and veterans Darius Slay Jr., Zach Baun, Brandon Graham, and Jalen Carter.

It was belt to a** [man]. How dominant you guys were on defense and how dominant we were on offense and special teams, people don’t realize how great of a team that actually was.

Barkley added

It’s hard to look past the Super Bowl game in NOLA. Quarterback Jalen Hurts gave the Eagles a 40-point lead. However, the Eagles’ defense restricted the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense until late in the fourth quarter when Patrick Mahomes added 22 points.

Barkley feels that people don’t realize the greatness of the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles right now, but they eventually will, 10-15 years in the future.

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