PHILADELPHIA, PA (WTKR)- The Commanders have done many things well during the season that have led to their success. Stopping the run has not be one of them.
Washington finished the regular season ranked 30th in the NFL in rushing defense, giving up 137.5 rushing yards per game. Sunday finds them facing one of the most explosive running backs in the NFL as Saquon Barkley looks to feast on the burgundy and gold for the third time this season.
"Every single time that I've coached against him, he's been the emphasis," Commanders' head coach Dan Quinn said. "He's a remarkable player."
"That's a great running back, one of the best in the league at doing what he's doing," added defensive lineman Jer'Zhan Newton. "Over 2,000 yards is great for anybody."
Barkley has terrorized defenses all year long, including the Commanders. When the two teams met in Philadelphia in November, Barkley gained 146 yards and found the endzone twice in a 26-18 Eagles' victory. Five weeks later, he went for 150 yards and another two touchdowns in the Commanders' 36-33 win. In each match-up, his explosive plays were what doomed Washington.
"There are some running backs where it's four (yards), it's five, but it's the long ones," Quinn noted. "With that type of speed and the explosive plays, that's what's difficult. You're good, you're good and then not so good."
"I've been playing Barkley since the college days, you know, Ohio State-Penn State," defensive tackle Jalyn Holmes said. "He's a guy who can capitalize big off your mistakes, so we've just got to be really gap sound and disciplined and play team football to be able to stop him."
Other teams have been chasing Barkley plenty as well. The running back gained more than 100 yards on the ground in 11 of the 16 games in which he played during the regular season. It all added up to history, as he became just the ninth player in NFL history to eclipse the 2,000 rushing yard mark.
"Stop the run," defensive lineman Dorance Armstrong said of the gameplan. "We stop the run and we get them boys to be behind the sticks and throw the ball, that's the game we want to play."
"Everyone's just doing their 1/11, doing their jobs, staying in their gap, being gap disciplined and making the plays that come to them is the best way that we can stop him," added Newton.
It seems as though Barkley is only getting better throughout the playoffs. Last week saw him rack up 205 yards against the Rams. No doubt that it will be a challenge for the Commanders' defense, but they say that this is what they live for.
"Going against the best is going to bring out the best in you," linebacker Frankie Luvu pointed out. "He's one of the best, by far, to ever play the position and he's balling out this year, so hats off to him, but every time we play him, it's going to be a dogfight."
"This week, we know what they have over there as well," Newton said regarding Washington's success against running backs in the playoffs so far. "It's really a challenge for the D-line just to show who we really are, the toughness we have and how we can really do it."
The NFC Championship game kicks off Sunday at 3:00 PM. News 3 is in Philadelphia with the Commanders and you can catch reports both on-air and online throughout the weekend.
