Entering the final stretch of the season, the Eagles still haven’t found their footing in the running game. The lack of production from a unit that produced a 2,000 yard rusher and the NFL’s offensive player of the year has been a big part of the offense’s inconsistency this season.
Saquon Barkley is averaging his lowest yards per carry (3.7) since 2021, when he played 13 games for the New York Giants. His 62.2 yards per game are the second-lowest of his career, and his 16.8 carries per game represent his third-lowest full season total. Barkley’s struggles this season came to a head with a 10-carry, 22-yard performance against Dallas.
Barkley was dominant last season, when he had 11 games of 100 or more rushing yards. This year, he has one. What is causing Barkley’s down season — and can it be rectified before the Eagles embark on another playoff run?
» READ MORE: These numbers show Saquon Barkley’s drop-off from his historic 2024 season with the Eagles
Here’s a look at why the Eagles’ running game has suffered this season and how it could get back on track Friday against the Bears:
Shotgun struggles
Last season, Barkley had 1,050 of his 2,005 rushing yards out of shotgun, averaging 5.8 yards per carry out of the gun with a plus-18.8 expected points added per rush, according to Next Gen Stats. This season, 302 of his 684 rushing yards have come from shotgun runs, and Barkley is averaging 3.6 yards per carry with a minus-13.1 rush EPA.
What stands out most comparing Barkley’s film in 2024 vs. 2025 is how much more dominant the offensive line was at the line of scrimmage. Though Barkley saw far fewer stacked boxes last year (20.6%) than this year (32.4%), according to Next Gen, the loss of Mekhi Becton at right guard has been felt particularly in the running game, coupled with Cam Jurgens, Landon Dickerson, and Lane Johnson all being banged up this year.
Barkley is set to outpace his carries against stacked boxes (eight or more defenders) this season compared to 2024. This year, he already has 60 rushing attempts against stacked boxes, averaging 2.4 yards per carry and managing just 142 yards, per Next Gen. Last season, he averaged 4.5 yards per carry against defenses that loaded the box, on 71 attempts (319 yards).
But back to the shotgun runs. There was far more variety in the scheme last year, along with more movement from the offensive linemen, too. Jurgens was a focal point of that movement, utilizing his athleticism to get out in space for Barkley last season, and it helped pop some big runs downfield. The Eagles would also bring Johnson and Jordan Mailata across the formation to run power and pin-and-pull runs to help create some daylight for Barkley.
Teams are matching the uptick in heavy personnel from the Eagles offense on running downs with eight-man boxes and aligning five and even six players at the line of scrimmage. They’re also slanting defensive linemen to disrupt and shut off cutback lanes for Barkley.
The success the Eagles have had in shotgun this year has come in 11 personnel (one back, one tight end), where teams can’t stack the box because of the threat A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith pose for opposing secondaries.
Because of the lack of success the Eagles have had running the ball on gap scheme runs out of pistol, which we will explain more in the next section, the offense has attempted to run counter out of shotgun, with varying levels of success since the second Giants game on Oct. 26.
Where’s pistol?
When the monster runs began to come for Barkley down the stretch of the 2024 season, they were typically from the pistol formation, when the running back aligned behind Jalen Hurts. The Eagles’ offensive line specifically thrived on the counter run, which pulls two backside offensive linemen or one backside offensive lineman and a tight end across the formation to kick out edge rushers and linebackers.
Out of pistol formations last season, Barkley had 529 yards, four touchdowns, and averaged 5.7 yards per carry, according to Next Gen. This season those numbers are down drastically to 84 yards on 32 carries (2.4 yards per carry).
The linemen pulling across the line of scrimmage last season typically included Becton, whose size and physicality would naturally knock defenders out of the play, with Johnson, or tight ends Grant Calcaterra and C.J. Uzomah, following the action and wrapping up to block a linebacker or safety filling the run gap.
On those same runs this season out of pistol, the Eagles have been largely unsuccessful. The offensive line has struggled with maintaining blocks and working their double teams up to the second level, the kick out blocks haven’t been as effective, and teams are slanting in an attempt to change the aim points for the Eagles O-line, post-snap.
The Eagles have only utilized Barkley out of pistol formations seven times since the bye week, and he’sonly popped two runs of five or more yards, both attempts against the Detroit Lions.
The offense had more success earlier in the season when Barkley ran outside zone out of pistol in Week 1 against Dallas, against Kansas City, and in the first meeting with New York. Giving Barkley natural cutback lanes on such runs seemed to yield more success than trying to recreate what worked last season against far less stacked boxes.
Under center more prevalent
Under-center runs have come into focus more as the Eagles deploy more heavy personnel, such as 12 personnel (one back, two tight ends) and 13 personnel (one back and three tight ends), along with having a sixth offensive linemen on the field.
In 2024, Barkley had just 72 attempts but averaged 5.9 yards per carry on under-center runs, according to Next Gen, and Barkley is already set to outpace last year’s rushing attempts from under center. He’s up to 70 attempts, averaging 4.3 yards per carry, his highest of any alignment formation this season, on under-center runs, with three of his four rushing touchdowns coming on those types of runs.
The same outside zone runs that are working out of pistol seem to be working on under center runs, too, for Barkley.
The lone long touchdown run of the season from Barkley, which came on Oct. 26 against the Giants and went for 65 yards, was on a duo run, which includes two double teams on the front side of the running play and a solo block on the backside. Employing more of those runs, especially with a sixth linemen on the field, can create one-on-one opportunities for Barkley against linebackers and safeties.
The effectiveness of the under-center runs from Barkley opened up the play-action passing game against the Vikings on Oct. 19, though it hasn’t had quite the same effectiveness in recent weeks. Still, it’s worth noting the two runs Barkley has had for 10-plus yards were from under center, on pitch plays that went the opposite way of the formation’s strength (against Dallas on Sept. 4 and the Lions on Nov. 16).
Telling stats of run game struggles
The most telling sign of his struggles though are Barkley’s stats while the Eagles are leading, last year vs. this year. In 2024, Barkley rushed for 1,100 yards on 173 attempts, seven touchdowns, and a plus-16 EPA while the Eagles were leading, according to Next Gen. Those stats this year are much different: 327 yards on 110 attempts (3 yards per carry), one touchdown, and a minus-27.8 EPA.
One other stat to store away: the Eagles are calling designed runs for Hurts at the lowest-rate this season since 2022. According to TruMedia, Hurts has a designed run rate of 62.5%, down from his career-high of 74% last season. And according to Pro Football Focus, he has 106 yards on designed rushing attempts this year, on track to be his lowest as a starter. Hurts has just 298 rushing yards this season, which is also on track to be the lowest of his career.
With the offensive line’s struggles and Hurts’ decrease in designed rushing attempts, defenses are keying in on Barkley even more this season. The Bears’ defense offers a potential course-correction game for the Eagles on Friday. We’ll see if they take advantage.
