Bill Belichick calls MVP candidate Saquon Barkley ‘a great complementary piece.’ No, that’s not a slight.
The former Patriots coach discussed the Birds’ potent offense with Snoop Dogg on the latest episode of the “Let’s Go” podcast.
The Eagles have had some great running backs over the years, but Saquon Barkley is reaching another level in his first season with the team.
Barkley is on pace to set the NFL single-season rushing record, and has helped lead the Birds to seven straight wins, including one over his former team, the Giants. On Sunday, he broke his own career single-season and single-game highs with 255 rushing yards against the Rams — while setting a franchise single-game rushing record for the Eagles.
After Sunday’s performance, MVP buzz for Barkley is reaching all-time highs. On the Let’s Go podcast, which runs on SiriusXM every Monday, Bill Belichick and Snoop Dogg praised Barkley’s added dimension to the Eagles’ offense — as a complementary piece.
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That’s not a knock. With receivers like A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith on the outside, and with a quarterback like Jalen Hurts who’s also a threat to run, Barkley’s not the sole focus of the opposing defense’s game plan, like he was with the Giants.
“I played the Giants with him there — everything was about him, even the passing game,” Belichick said. “You didn’t want him matched up on a linebacker, so you always had to have somebody good covering him. You had to load the box for the running game. He was the guy you had to stop and just make everybody else beat you. Now he’s such a great complementary piece. He’s the centerpiece, but he’s a great complementary piece to the rest of that offense.”
The Eagles, especially now that they’re mostly healthy, have elite players everywhere on the offensive side of the ball — Brown, Smith, Hurts, Dallas Goedert, and of course a vaunted offensive line. That gives offensive coordinator Kellen Moore the opportunity to be deceptive with his play calls.
“When [Barkley] does get the ball, more than likely you’re not paying attention to him because you’re scared of the pass or scared of the quarterback,” Snoop Dogg said. “That RPO [run-pass option] game they got is efficient, especially with him in the backfield.”
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It looks like the sky’s the limit for the Eagles, who are tied with the Vikings for the second-best record in the NFC, just behind the 10-1 Lions. Four of their remaining six games are at home, and the road games are in Washington and Baltimore, both short trips, making the travel schedule a breeze.
Are the stars aligning for a special run? Snoop Dogg thinks so.
“I see them playing the Lions in the NFC championship game,” he said.