INGLEWOOD, Calif. – As Saquon Barkley looked at a replay of his last big run for the Philadelphia Eagles at SoFi Stadium on Sunday night, he happened to see a graphic that suggested he had run for 173 yards – just 16 fewer than what he knew it would be his career highlight.

“I said, ‘Oh, I wish I’d never seen that,'” Barkley said with a grin. “That’s just the devil talking, that’s how I see it. … I’m a firm believer that if it happens, it happens. Just let it come to you.”

Barkley decided to continue running for his teammates rather than records. A few runs later, both his personal best and several other superlatives fell to him with his second massive touchdown run of a historic night.

Barkley ran for 70 and 72 yards in the second half and finished the season with an Eagles record 255 rushing yards in Philadelphia’s seventh straight win, 37-20 over the Los Angeles Rams.

Barkley totaled the ninth-most rushing yards in a game in NFL history, thanks largely to his massive TD runs that spanned the second half. He sprinted for a 70-yard score on the opening snap of the third quarter, and he added another big rush in the middle with 2:44 to play.

“Saquon has the ability to hit home runs, and sometimes it goes that way,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “You get a short gain, a short gain, a short gain – boom, home run. Saquon is that type of player, and our offensive line handled the variations up front well.”

Barkley totaled 302 yards — making him the 12th player in NFL history to reach the top 300 and the first Eagles player — while also becoming the first NFL player with two 70-yard TD runs in one Played since Maurice Jones-Drew in 2009.

Barkley leads the league with a career-high 1,392 rushing yards, including a league-best seven 100-yard rushing games in his seismic first season with Philadelphia after six frustrating years with the Giants.

“To be honest, I’m not surprised,” said Barkley, a two-time Pro Bowl selection. “I didn’t think I would have this much success, but I’m grateful to be here. I am grateful for the new beginning. A big reason why I wanted to come here is because I felt like this was a place where I could rewrite my story and show everyone the type of player I can be and should be, and it’s working out right now .”

While he averaged 9.8 yards per carry, Barkley surpassed the Eagles franchise records of 217 rushing yards set by LeSean McCoy in 2013 and 296 total yards set by Duce Staley in 2000. He also posted the best rushing performance of all times against the Rams, surpassing DeMarco Murray Dallas’ 253 yards rushing in 2011.

AJ Brown caught six passes for 109 yards and a TD from Jalen Hurts, who threw for 179 yards, as NFC East-leading Philadelphia (9-2) scored 24 points in the second half.

Kyren Williams rushed for a score and Demarcus Robinson caught a TD pass for the Rams (5-6), who lost their second straight home game.

Matthew Stafford passed for 243 yards while being sacked five times by Philadelphia’s best defense, and Los Angeles couldn’t keep up with a Super Bowl contender in the second half of just its second loss in six games. Puka Nacua had nine catches for 117 yards and Cooper Kupp caught a 27-yard touchdown pass with 1:07 to play.

Los Angeles’ defense gave up 480 yards, erasing several weeks of progress from a unit that also appeared overwhelmed early in the season.

“(Barkley) gets tough, hard-fought yards, and then you give him a vertical seam like he got a few times,” McVay said. “He has the explosiveness, the long speed and the ability to finish. That’s what opened up the game for him and blew it up. He was outstanding.”

The Eagles improved to 4-0 against the Rams in the Los Angeles area since the franchise returned home, but led just 13-7 at halftime despite dominating both sides of the ball in the second quarter.

Barkley only managed 73 yards for Philadelphia in the first half, but early in the third quarter he broke the game and the Rams’ defense open with his slick running up the middle.

“He makes a cut that I didn’t think anyone else could make,” Sirianni said. “He just stopped on a dime.”

Los Angeles responded with Robinson’s short TD catch, but Kenneth Gainwell rushed for a 13-yard TD soon after, one play after Barkley’s 31-yard catch-and-run on third-and-long.

In the final minutes, Barkley discovered another gaping hole in the middle of Los Angeles’ defense.

“One of our guys came out of the back of the gap,” Rams nose tackle Kobie Turner said. “Once you give this guy room to run and he’s now on the second level, he can make guys miss and has the speed to break away.”

Injuries

Eagles: CB Darius Slay (concussion) left in the second half. … WR DeVonta Smith (hamstring) sat out for the third time in his four-year career. … Afterwards, 15-year veteran DE Brandon Graham said he was out for the season with a torn triceps.

Rams: Starting RT Rob Havenstein (ankle) missed his third straight game and backup Warren McClendon had issues in pass defense.

Next

Eagles: Next Sunday at Baltimore.

Rams: Next Sunday at New Orleans.

——

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL