Saquon Barkley and the Eagles ran angry in the second half. It’s about time.

LANDOVER, Md. — Saquon Barkley had rushed for just 52 yards on 14 carries when he came to the sideline late in the third quarter. The Eagles had taken a 14-10 lead after a 17-play, touchdown-scoring drive, but they did so in spite of the struggles in the run game.

It’s been a season-long slog on the ground, but there have been glimpses of hope in recent weeks. And Barkley, who’s had to run into more stacked boxes than ever in his eighth year, felt that he wasn’t taking advantage of opportunities against a weakened Commanders defense.

“We got a little fired up on the sideline, but it was good,” Barkley said. “It’s all all out of love, let’s say that. We want to do what’s best for the team when we’re winning games and hold each other accountable. But thank God it happened for me, to be honest, because it put me in my bag, as people would say.”

It was a 12-yard touchdown run off left tackle. The stat sheet account of the play doesn’t do Barkley’s seventh rushing score of the season justice. Jordan Mailata gave perhaps the best description.

“That was an angry run by Say,” the Eagles left tackle said. “Kind of expected that from him by the way he was acting on the sideline. He was just very adamant, being very positive, like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna get it.’”

Barkley’s touchdown wasn’t exactly the final nail. But he drove the last spike with a dazzling 48-yard run two drives later. And backup Tank Bigsby buried the Commanders with a 22-yard bolt into the end zone of the Eagles’ eventual 29-18 win at Northwest Stadium on Saturday.

» READ MORE: Eagles grades: Defense sound, offense fine, special teams shaky vs. Commanders

Most important, the victory clinched the NFC East for a second straight year — the first time that’s happened in the division in 21 years. But in terms of the bigger picture, stacking strong performances on the ground in consecutive weeks suggests the Eagles might have a chance in the postseason.

The last two opponents — the Raiders and Commanders — might not have provided playoff-caliber competition. But the offense needed glimmers after a three-game losing streak, and really, a whole season of never looking quite right.

But diversifying the calls, and involving quarterback Jalen Hurts more in the run game, has opened the playbook some for offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo.

“O-line blocking well. Saquon running well. Jalen faking well and being a threat to carry it as well,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “Tank coming in, giving good carries. The receivers block, tight ends … Kevin’s doing a good job calling it and putting the guys in position.

“So, yeah, I think there’s a lot to be encouraged on. We got to build on it.”

It may be no coincidence that the offensive improvement came after Sirianni asserted more of his authority on that side of the ball three games ago. There were bright moments in the overtime loss to the Chargers, but Hurts had five turnovers.

Actually, there were improvements in run design the week before against the Bears. But the Eagles defense didn’t meet its usual standard and the offense couldn’t compensate. The numbers in the last four games, though, suggest that Barkley and Co. are doing something better.

The Eagles have averaged 4.96 yards per carry over that span. In their first 11 games, they averaged only 3.91 yards.

They’ve done it various ways. Last week, they ran from under center more than normal. This week, it was mostly from the shotgun. In the former, Barkley and Bigsby combined to rush 77 yards on just five totes. In the latter, it was 20 carries for 93 yards.

It was from under center, with six offensive linemen, that the pair broke off their two long runs late in the game. Barkley’s 48-yarder put him at 132 yards on 21 carries for the day. He went over 1,000 yards on the season earlier in the game and has 1,072 yards total through 15 games.

It’s not quite the 2,000 yards he gained last season in 16 games. But considering all the angst over the run game this season, breaking the thousand mark for a fifth time in his career is still an accomplishment.

“I mean, 1,000 is great every time, but I can’t even say it’s a slog,” Barkley said. “Most importantly, I’m all about winning. And even when I was rushing for 2,000 yards, the message and the mindset was the same.”

But maybe for the first time this season, Barkley looked his 2024 self for a brief period. He spun out of would-be tackles, shed defenders, and picked up yards after contact. He’s been trying to find the balance between when to be flash and when to be power.

“There’s so many ways you can do it,” Barkley said. “A mindset this game was run like I’m 230, 235. That’s what my coach said. There’s times I don’t. I have games where I rush for 200 yards because I’m able to be more like a scat back.”

He squirted out of two tackle attempts on the 12-yard touchdown run and carried a Commander across the goal line. On the 48-yard scamper, he twirled away from a defensive lineman who shot into the backfield untouched, stiff-armed the safety, and picked up an extra 30-plus yards thanks to a downfield block by receiver DeVonta Smith.

“Apparently, Smitty said I gotta f-ing score, so I gotta go back and watch it,” Barkley said.

The house-call touchdowns haven’t been as prominent this season. And maybe that skewered Barkley’s numbers from 2024, or more likely, expectations for this season. But there isn’t another player on the roster who the Eagles feed off more than the 28-year-old running back.

Even Hurts conceded as much.

“It was good to see him out there earning those yards like he did,” Hurts said. “He was very physical. He ran very hard today. Very hard. He had a hell of a game. I think it always has a component to energize a team. I think it energizes him.”

Bigsby might have had the exclamation point after the 48-yarder, but Barkley came out and converted the two-point attempt with another tough carry. A melee that got right guard Tyler Steen and two Commanders ejected from the game followed the conversion.

Washington coach Dan Quinn’s response to a question about the fight suggested that his players didn’t like the Eagles going for two.

“I can only answer from my side and what I would do,” Quinn said. “But hey, man, like that’s how they want to get down then. Like, all good. We play them again in two weeks.”

Sirianni said the Eagles’ analytics suggested the risk to have a 19-point lead vs. 18 with a little over four minutes left was worth the try.

“To go up one more point is, in my mind, not running up the score,” Sirianni said.

It’s quite possible the season finale will be meaningless for the Eagles, who are now locked into at least the No. 3 seed. They face a stiff test next week at Buffalo. A step back there might negate some of the positive from the past two games.

Hurts had some impressive throws in the passing game, but he also had his share of shaky moments. He brought a dynamic that’s been missing for most of the season with five scrambles for 40 yards. His lone non-Tush Push designed run went for zero yards.

» READ MORE: Let us raise a glass to the Tush Push. It’s dead, and the Eagles have to find an alternative.

But Hurts’ legs, Barkley’s characteristic strong December, better blocking schemes, and Bigsby as the second punch could be the recipe for the Eagles in the postseason. They need their run game to be successful — 2,000-yard season or not.

“I know personally, would love to have gotten [Barkley] back to 2,000 but I think it’s cool,” Mailata said of eclipsing 1,000 yards. “I think we just have high standards, and don’t want to rain on the parade, but we wish we got the running game going earlier.

“I wish we were executing at a higher rate early in the year, just to help him get closer to the goal that that we set in the year.”

But team-wide goals are still attainable.