PHILADELPHIA – It’s hard to get much shine in a running back room when Saquon Barkley is running reverse hurdles and closing games like he’s Mariano Rivera.

Perhaps that’s why Eagles coach Nick Sirianni took a moment to highlight how effective backup RB Kenny Gainwell was in Philadelphia’s 28-16 win over Washington Thursday night.

Barkley’s performance against the Commanders was Sugar Ray Leonard style, a late flurry that made most forget most of the game for the superstar, and the Eagles’ offense as a whole was simple.

After three quarters, Barkley had 69 rushing yards on 20 carries, an unremarkable 3.5 yards per carry against a run defense ranked 28th in the NFL that entered the showdown.

The fourth quarter for Barkley saw Leonard steal the run with a late flurry, going 77 yards on six carries, including touchdowns of 23 and 39 yards led by the diggers of Mekhi Becton and Cam Jurgens, respectively.

“That’s the beauty of football,” Barkley told NFL Network after the game. “You can shut it down 20 times, but if you get it wrong on two of them, we’re going to have a big day.”

Gainwell’s role in all of this came early in the fourth quarter, where the fourth-year pro basically highlighted that Washington’s defense was withering after being hammered out of the first three quarters.

On three consecutive plays, Gainwell took the Eagles from the Commanders’ 38-yard line to the 4 with consecutive runs of 14, 13 and seven yards.

Barkley tapped in three more yards before Jalen Hurts was pushed in from one, giving the Eagles their first touchdown and lead of the game, 12-10, and a lead they never relinquished with twelve minutes remaining .

“I mean, what about (RB) Kenny Gainwell?” Sirianni gushed when asked about the running game by the Philadelphia Eagles on SI. “What about how well he played? He replaced Saquon when Saquon needed a break. We got the ball because we had a good tempo.

“We had them on our heels a little bit and we just kept going. Kenny played his ass off.

Every good valve needs a technician.

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