Remember when Giants owner John Mara said he was going to have trouble sleeping at night if Saquon Barkley became an Eagle? Saquon’s debut:

The second Eagle to score three touchdowns in his debut. Terrell Owens did it against the Giants on 9/12/04. It’s funny because Saquon’s first touch was a five-yard loss, when he slipped on the grass and put the Birds in 2nd and 15 right off the bat. Take that carry out of the mix and he still went for 100+ on 23 other carries and added 23 receiving yards and a touchdown on two receptions. It was a beautiful wheel route set up by some pre-snap motion and misdirection from A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.

The Eagles’ PR team sends out a weekly postgame notes email and they included these bullet points after the Brazil win:

  • Going back to last year, Barkley has produced 2 rushing TDs in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
  • Barkley became the first Eagle to post 2+ rushing TDs and 1+ receiving TDs in a game since Jordan Howard on 9/26/19 at Green Bay.
  • He is the first Eagle to accomplish the feat in a season opener since Wilbert Montgomery on 9/12/82 vs. Washington.

Mike Clay also noted on social that in Saquon’s 76 Giant games, he only had three touchdowns once. He required one Eagle game to replicate the feat. And if the field was trash in Brazil, imagine what Saquon does on a proper NFL surface, with more experience playing with Jalen Hurts and running behind this offensive line. Could be a historic ball carrying year for the Birds if Barkley stays healthy. We may not see the “Run the Ball” guys are NovaCare in 2024.