Packers safety Xavier McKinney talks about facing Philadelphia Eagles
Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney is prepared for a physical game when facing the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles.
- The Green Bay Packers defense is preparing for the Philadelphia Eagles, focusing on stopping running back Saquon Barkley.
- Barkley has a history of explosive plays against the Packers, including in their previous playoff matchup.
- The Packers aim to prevent Barkley from gaining early momentum, which they believe is key to controlling his impact.
GREEN BAY – On his first carry of the Philadelphia Eagles’ last game, Saquon Barkley ripped off a 65-yard touchdown run, serving notice to the New York Giants in the eight or nine seconds it took him to shoot through an open gap, exploit a safety’s bad angle and cross the goal line that he should be the focus of their defensive game plan.
That run, plus the other 17 touches that netted 109 more yards and a touchdown, were all there on the video cut-ups the Green Bay Packers defense studied in preparation for their “Monday Night Football” matchup with the Eagles on Nov. 10.
As if the Packers needed a reminder how Barkley sets the tone for his offense.
In their 22-10 wild-card playoff loss to the Eagles on Jan. 12, Barkley knifed through the middle of the defense, spun through cornerback Carrington Valentine’s arm tackle and ran for a 16-yard gain to the Packers’ 12-yard line, igniting the Lincoln Financial Field crowd and putting their opponent on its heels.
Three carries later, on the first play of the Eagles’ third possession, he scooted around left end, running past safety Xavier McKinney and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper and through the arms of safety Evan Williams for a 17-yard gain.
A short time later, the Packers were down 10-0 and Barkley was almost halfway to a 100-yard rushing game with more than three quarters to play.
“That’s the one thing,’ defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt said, “you can’t let him get started. Once he don’t get started — I’m not saying he’s going to be off for the rest of the game — but he’s not going to be as explosive for the rest of the game.
“He’s going to make some plays. He’s a good player. We know they’re going to (test us).”
After watching Carolina’s Rico Dowdle carve up the Packers defense for 130 yards on 25 carries, the Eagles would be crazy not to test Green Bay from the start. The Panthers ran it on the Packers every which way, finishing them off with a 19-yard run that set up the game-winning field goal with no time left.
The Packers came in with the third-ranked run defense and were completely exposed by an offensive line missing three and sometimes four of its starting unit.
Even though Barkley is not having the year he did a year ago when he led the NFL with 2,005 rushing yards — the Eagles are running the ball only 47.6% of the time — the Packers are coming into the game fully aware that Barkley will be a focal point from start to finish.
“We self-scout and we know we didn’t do our best job,” linebacker Isaiah McDuffie said of the performance against the Panthers.. “That’s a point of emphasis for us. We learned from our mistakes and we know what we have to do to fix it.”
One area the Packers have excelled at is limiting big runs. They are one of 10 teams that have not allowed a run of 40 or more yards against them and one of seven teams who have allowed two or fewer runs of 10 or more yards.
They rank tied for ninth in yards allowed per rush at 4.0.
Barkley’s explosive runs have been way down this year. After posting 17 runs of 20 or more yards, including seven of 40 or more, last year, Barkley is down to two of 20 or more yards, one of which has been for 40 or more.
The Packers know that if Barkley breaks a long run or two early, they’ll be putting the Eagles offense in the best possible position. They were able to recover from the early success Barkley had in the playoff game and limit him to a long run of 17 yards, but Barkley finished them off with a breakaway run. He could have had a 76-yard touchdown run but dropped to the ground and gave himself up so the Eagles could run out the clock.
“You’ve got to get him from the jump,” McKinney said of his former Giants teammate. “You cannot let him get going early, or really let him get started, because once he once he gets started, it’s going to be a hard game and challenging game moving forward.
“So obviously, we’re going to be keying into him, and keying into that run. That’s going to be big for us this week. And you know, he’s a special, special talent. He’s a hell of a player. You know, he’s a guy that could change the game just like that. He’s a game wrecker.”
The Packers will have the dual responsibility of stopping Barkley and quarterback Jalen Hurts, who ranks second on the team with 58 carries for 207 yards and five touchdowns. Barkley has 127 carries for 519 yards and four touchdowns, but he has also caught 24 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns, including a 47-yarder.
Being able to keep both players from producing big plays on the ground would allow defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley to play with a balanced approach and not have to load up the line of scrimmage with run defenders and risk having Hurts punish him through the air with talented receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert.
It means the Packers can’t have the assignment breakdowns that plagued them against Carolina.
“He [Barkley] is a very patient runner and when he finds a crease, he hits 100 mph,” McDuffie said. “It means being disciplined in your gaps and same with your edges. It just comes down to your fundamentals; if that’s your gap, keep your nose in your gap. Don’t shed until the ball crosses your gap.
“With a back that explosive, you’ve got to play with fundamentals.”
