Stopping Saquon: Steelers focus on minimizing damage by dynamic Eagles star running back

The Pittsburgh Steelers have seen their share of elite running backs this season, but coach Mike Tomlin described Saquon Barkley as both dominant and dynamic because the Philadelphia Eagles star has created a degree of separation from his peers in highlight reel-caliber plays.

Barkley’s backwards bounce over Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones might be the NFL’s play of the year. It’s certainly one that had Steelers inside linebacker Patrick Queen pondering a reporter’s question about the best way to tackle a player who is both powerful and elusive.

“Not duck your head when you try to tackle,” Queen said. “That’s the simplest way. If you want to hit somebody, you’ve got to see what you’re hitting.”

SAQUON BARKLEY IS NOT OF THIS WORLD.

????: #JAXvsPHI on CBS/Paramount+
????: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/UtCENDw6no

— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2024

While the Steelers see Barkley as the best running back in the league — one who’s on pace to break Eric Dickerson’s 40-year-old single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards — the NFL’s No. 4 rush defense isn’t ducking the challenge of stopping the catalyst to the league’s top ground attack.

Barkley has rushed for 1,623 yards on 266 carries this season, is averaging 6.1 yards per carry and 124.8 per game and has 1,890 yards from scrimmage — all of which lead the league — and has broken LeSean McCoy’s team record for single-season rushing yards (1,607).

Big s/o to my boy @saquon on breaking my franchise single season rushing record. Let’s go get that Dickerson record see yall in the N O super bow bound @Eagles pic.twitter.com/SM5SXvyyaV

— LeSean Shady Mccoy (@CutonDime25) December 8, 2024

When it comes to the best back he’s faced, Queen didn’t hesitate to crown Barkley the king.

“I think Saquon’s got that title this year,” Queen said of Barkley, who is on pace to rush for 2,122 yards. “You see what he’s doing. He’s unstoppable right now. … Even when he’s not in space, he’s able to break tackles and stuff. Just an all-around good back: elusive, strong, can make multiple guys miss at one time. So he definitely is my No. 1 right now.”

Tomlin took it a step further, calling Barkley’s offseason signing with the Philadelphia Eagles “the most significant acquisition in the NFL in 2024.” After three 1,000-yard seasons in six years with the New York Giants, who drafted him No. 2 overall out of Penn State in 2018, Barkley signed a three-year, $37.75 million contract with his hometown team that includes $26 million guaranteed.

That deal has looked like a bargain so far as the 6-foot, 233-pounder has nine 100-yard games, including a career-best 255 rushing yards and 302 yards from scrimmage against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12. Barkley is a four-time NFC player of the week, won NFC player of the month honors in November and is a leading MVP candidate.

“He’s dynamic,” Tomlin said. “He checks all the boxes, in terms of physical talent: He’s got top-end speed. He can hit a home run, as evidenced by the Rams game. He’s good in tight-space areas. He can get downhill. He can lower his pads and run behind his pads. He’s got good lateral abilities. He can make people miss. He’s just a really complete player, and obviously that’s been a significant acquisition for them.”

"The most significant acquisition in the NFL in 2024."

Mike Tomlin on Eagles RB Saquon Barkley. #Steelers #Eagles #NFL @PennStateFball pic.twitter.com/zvxVK9L0Lo

— FOX 53 (@fox53wpgh) December 10, 2024

Even as Tomlin called Barkley’s performances “eye-opening” and said their chances of success starts with minimizing his impact, the Steelers coach warned that Barkley “can’t have the totality of your attention” as he did when with the Giants.

Not with the Eagles leading the league in rushing yards (2,476) and rushing touchdowns (25) with Barkley running behind an offensive line anchored by tackles Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson and beside dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts, who has 544 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns this season.

To further prove Hurts’ value: Barkley has been tackled at the 1-yard line 11 times this season and hasn’t scored on any of those drives; Hurts has either run for or thrown a touchdown on 10 of them. And yet Barkley still has scored 13 times, 11 by run and twice on receptions.

“When you play in the AFC North, we go against a lot of great running backs and ball carriers,” Steelers rookie nickel back Beanie Bishop Jr. said. “You’ve got Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson in Baltimore and Nick Chubb in Cleveland, so we’re familiar with going against good backs. When we played against Derrick Henry, he was the (NFL’s) leading rusher. Things don’t change here in Pittsburgh. One of the things we pride ourselves on is being able to stop the run.”

The Steelers are allowing only 91.5 rushing yards per game this season. They held Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson to 68 yards, Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor to 88 yards, Henry to 65 yards and Chubb to 59 and 48 yards in his two games. Ironically, the only running back to eclipse the 100-yard mark against the Steelers this season was Barkley’s replacement with the Giants: Tyrone Tracy Jr. ran for 145 yards on 20 carries in Week 8.

Linebacker Elandon Roberts said the Steelers want to win the run game battle. He knows it starts with stopping Barkley but doesn’t want to put too much focus on one player because of the talent surrounding him. Instead, the Steelers are emphasizing the need to swarm and smother Barkley.

“A team in December is based on if you can run the ball and if you can stop the run. That’s how we go into each week,” Roberts said. “I’m not devaluing Saquon. If we weren’t playing Saquon this week, we’d be eyeing the exact same (situation) because that’s just what December football is all about. Obviously, playing the top back in this league, we’ll definitely have to hone in. But that’s just playing within our defense.”