Eagles' Saquon Barkley gets NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors

Touchdown count: Saquon Barkley, 3. The New York Giants, 0.

Saquon Barkley had an Eagles debut to remember.
Kirby Lee/Imagn Images

Saquon Barkley was the star of the show in the Eagles' season-opening win over the Packers down in Brazil, and on Wednesday, he got league recognition for it. 

The Eagles' new running back received NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his impressive debut, the NFL announced after Week 1's wrap, continuing to get the big free-agent signee's tenure in Philly off on the right foot. 

Barkley racked up 132 total yards during last Friday night's opener in São Paulo, rushing for 109 yards on the ground while scoring three touchdowns – which hasn't been done by a debuting Eagle since Terrell Owens in 2004. 

He scored his first on a well-executed wheel route and loft from Jalen Hurts into the end zone, which got the Eagles on the board and their offense finally going after a sloppy first two drives that ended in turnovers. 

Then he powered through on the ground for his next two, which helped keep the Eagles ahead of Green Bay. 

"You gotta give credit to the offensive line," Barkley said afterward. "It starts with the offensive line and Jalen making the right reads to put us in the right positions. The O-line is setting me up, making me look better than I actually am, and it doesn't hurt to have Dallas Goedert, A.J. Brown, and DeVonta Smith, you know? 

"On the scouting report I'm probably not even in the top 3 you gotta worry about, so it makes my job a lot easier, and [offensive coordinator Kellen Moore] does a really good job to put us in a position to be special. I'm just happy to be here and start it off right."

So far, so good. 

The Eagles signed Barkley in the offseason to a three-year, $37.75 million contract in a major splash of a free-agent deal, which was preceded by negotiations between Barkley and his former team the New York Giants that, as Hard Knocks revealed, were never even close to being taken seriously by Giants GM Joe Schoen. 

A couple of days after Barkley debuted with three touchdowns for Philly, the Giants took the field for Week 1 and couldn't score a single one.


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