🏈🏈🏈🏈
Philadelphia Eagles
Saquon Barkley had himself a truly historical season, which culminated with him setting new NFL records while contributing to his team winning the Super Bowl.
Just one year ago, Barkley had been on a team that was frankly going nowhere. Unfortunately, it happens to be my favorite team: the New York Giants.
It felt like most Giants fans liked Barkley. But the team seemed not to appreciate him as much as they should have. They had a decision to make, and it seemed like the G-Men decided to build the future of their offense around quarterback Daniel Jones. To that end, they let Saquon Barkley go.
Barkley signed with the Philadelphia Eagles last offseason. And the rest, as they say, is history.
He enjoyed a historical season. He was the leading rusher, and one of very few running backs in history who rushed for over 2,000 yards during the regular season. His contributions helped the Eagles to enjoy massive success as a team, as well. They finished 14-3, and secured the second overall seed for the NFC playoffs.
The success of both Barkley and the Eagles continued in the postseason. They first beat the Packers, then outlasted the Rams in the snow. Then, they crushed their division rivals, the Washington Commanders, in the NFC Championship Game, qualifying for the fifth Super Bowl in franchise history, but the third in the past eight seasons.
Once there, Barkley entered Super Bowl Sunday with 2,760 yards total yards. He needed only three more yards to pass Denver Broncos great Terrell Davis for the most scrimmage yards in a single season. Davis had set that mark with 2,762 yards in 1998, which also happened to be a Super Bowl championship season for the Broncos. That season, Davis rushed for 2,476 yards and had 286 receiving yards, and the Denver Broncos ultimately won the Super Bowl.
In a recent article by Jeff Kerr on CBS Sports, he summed up some of the specifics regarding these statistics:
Barkley entered the day second on the all-time list for most yards from scrimmage in a season. Davis (2,762 yards in 1998) was first while Marshall Faulk (2,686 yards in 1999) is third and Davis (2,656 yards in 1997) is fourth on the all-time list.
So Barkley enjoyed one of the finest seasons by any player - particularly running backs - that the NFL has ever seen. He became one of the elite few running backs in NFL history with the distinction of having amassed over 2,000 yards rushing during the regular season, then had a spectacular postseason, helping the Eagles win the Super Bowl title.
What a year!
And what a gut punch to Giants fans. The G-Men should have held onto him for dear life.
Super Bowl 2025: Eagles' Saquon Barkley breaks Terrell Davis' 26-year-old NFL record in blowout vs. Chiefs by Jeff Kerr Feb 9, 2025:
Barkley has the most yards from scrimmage in a season
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/super-bowl-2025-eagles-saquon-barkley-breaks-terrell-davis-26-year-old-nfl-record-in-blowout-vs-chiefs/#:~:text=PHILADELPHIA%20%2D%2D%20The%20historic%20season,the%20first%20play%20from%20scrimmage.
Following their rather humiliating Blowout loss in the Super Bowl, the Chiefs made an official announcement that seven players were going to be cut from the team. None of them are stars or starters, or even players sitting on the bench during games, however. However, they were all members of the Chiefs practice squad last season, and were not signed to futures contracts on Tuesday. They are linebackers Swayze Bozeman and Cole Christiansen, tight end Anthony Firsker, running back Keontay Ingram, cornerbacks Nic Jones and Steven Nelson and wide receiver Montrell Washington.
Chiefs Cut Ties With 7 Players Immediately After Super Bowl Loss Story by Chris Schad • February 12, 2025 •
Chiefs Cut Ties With 7 Players Immediately After Super Bowl Loss
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/chiefs-cut-ties-with-7-players-immediately-after-super-bowl-loss/ar-AA1yUjOl?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=f461f7484c7d48dce00ee5ebb3e6dcdb&ei=13
The Jets acquired veteran star quarterback Aaron Rodgers two years ago. Having enjoyed a Hall of Fame career during his time in Green Bay, which included a Super Bowl win (with Rodgers earning Super Bowl MVP honors), there was reason for optimism. After all the Jets defense looked like a young, tough, and improving unit. The running game was emerging and looking dangerous as well. For many fans of Gang Green, it seemed that all they really needed was a seasoned quarterback to orchestrate it all.
So there was, perhaps predictably, a lot of enthusiasm regarding the Jets and the possibilities. Granted, the team had not qualified for the postseason since the 2010-11 season, which was the longest active postseason drought of all teams in the league. But fans had hopes which went well beyond just merely making the playoffs. They had much higher expectations. Super Bowl expectations, which were fueled by Rodgers himself.
Frankly, these were unrealistic expectations.
Those expectations were dashed almost immediately for the 2023, as Rodgers suffered a season ending injury on just the fourth play for the Jets offense in the first quarter of the very first game.
Nevertheless, he wasted no time trying to hype up the next season. He virtually guaranteed a Super Bowl appearance by the Jets. But those hopes were dashed quite quickly this past season as well. It was not because of some injury this time, however. No, it was because the Jets played very poorly, They got off to a 2-1 start and seemed to be following the plans for a competitive season. Then they lost to the Broncos. And the Vikings. And the Bills. And the Steelers. And the Patriots. They were 2-6 before getting a big win against Houston, but it did not last long. They got blown out by the Cardinals the following week, and then lost to the Colts. And to the Seahawks. And to the Dolphins....
You get the picture, right?
Rodgers looked pedestrian at quarterback. The Jets team looked far less than spectacular, for that matter. The running game and defense struggled. The head coach was fired at the midseason point. Any talk of Super Bowl dreams and expectations felt like a long, long time ago already before October was over, and the memory of that talk felt like a cruel joke by the time December rolled around.
Through it all, Rodgers felt like he was hurting the team more than helping them. His play was subpar most of the time. And his antics felt like an unwelcome distraction for the whole team. In short, it felt like he was an obstacle to success for the team far more than he helped to lift them.
So I welcome the departure of Aaron Rodgers. Personally, I was never a believer that he would somehow be the one to get the Jets back to the Super Bowl since the days of Broadway Joe Namath and his famous guarantee. I have already mentioned numerous times how Gang Green always seems to sign veteran players - particularly quarterbacks - and then seem to hype them up as the inevitable saviors for the franchise. They did that with Boomer Esiason and Vinny Testaverde in the 1990's, they did it with Brett Favre in the late 2000's, then with Michael Vick in the 2010's, and now have tried it again with Aaron Rodgers in the 2020's.
It never seems to work out. I believed that they should cut their losses and move on. A few days ago, they did just that, officially severing their ties with Rodgers and moving on without him.
Jets tell Aaron Rodgers they’re ‘moving on’ from the QB for next season, report says By DENNIS WASZAK JR., February 9, 2025
No comments:
Post a Comment