​Morning Coffee: Spotlight on Saquon with Eagles one win away from NFC Championship

Football fans spent six years imagining how dominant Saquon Barkley would be on a legitimate contender.

In his first season with the Philadelphia Eagles, the second-overall pick from the 2018 NFL Draft more than lived up to the hype.

Barkley led the NFL with 2,005 rushing yards this season.

That’s the eighth-best single-season mark in NFL history.

He finished just 101 yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s all-time single season rushing record. Barkley averaged a remarkable 125.3 scrimmage yards per game and led the NFL with 2,283 total yards.

He might have led the league in touchdowns as well if it wasn’t for his own teammate, Jalen Hurts, punching in the fifth-most rushing touchdowns in the NFL with 14.

Barkley continued his dominance in last week’s Wild Card win over the Green Bay Packers, topping 100 rushing yards for the 12th time in an Eagles uniform to break a tie with Jerome Bettis for the most by a player in his first season with a team in NFL history.

After a successful playoff debut with his new team, Barkley will be in the spotlight once again this Sunday when Philadelphia hosts the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round. Football fans expect the NFL’s rushing leader to deliver another monster stat line versus the Rams this weekend.

Based on the current player props up at FanDuel, I think Barkley has the potential to exceed expectations once again with another dominant performance on Sunday.

This is the Morning Coffee for Thursday January 16th, 2025.

Spotlight on Saquon with Eagles one win away from NFC Championship

Barkley is a mix between a bulldozer and a Ferrari.

He has the finesse and speed to make defenders miss and get loose in the open field.

Then again, if he needs to run through a linebacker, he can lower his shoulder and bulldoze right through them.

Barkley’s 2,124 rushing yards this season are the fifth-most in a season in NFL history.

Now he’s set to face a Rams defence that allowed an average of 101.5 rushing yards per game to running backs this season – the second-worst mark among any team that made the playoffs behind the Washington Commanders.

When these teams met earlier this season, Barkley averaged 9.8 yards per carry while rushing for a season-high 255 yards and two touchdowns in a 37-20 win.

He added 47 more yards on four receptions to finish with 302 scrimmage yards.

Barkley hit a couple of big plays in that victory, including a 72-yard run and a 31-yard reception.

Now he gets an opportunity to lead Philadelphia to the NFC Championship game with another dominant performance against the same opponent this weekend.

I’ll lock in Barkley over 126.5 total yards as a FanDuel Best Bet for the Divisional Round.

I’ll also lock in Barkley anytime touchdown and the Eagles to win outright at +106 odds.

Next, I’ll jump on Barkley over 12.5 receiving yards.

Finally, I’ll string together Barkley 80+ rushing yards, Barkley 1+ reception, and Jalen Hurts 25+ rushing yards as a Same Game Parlay at -110 odds.

The Rams have one of the most improved pass rushes in the NFL this season.

The best way to counter that strength is to run right at them and force them to try to bring down Barkley in the winter conditions in Philadelphia.

They could also mix in a couple of Hurts runs and short passes to Barkley in space to keep the Rams off balance.

The Eagles best chance to win is to lean on the NFL’s rushing leader for a repeat performance of what he did against Los Angeles earlier this season.

The conditions are perfect for Philly to execute.

Maybe he doesn’t go for 300 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns this time around, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Saquon went for 150+ and one score in an Eagles win.

We’re just a couple of days away from finding out. Go Birds! Have a great day, everyone!