The loudest touchdown in Eagles‘ franchise history — well, the loudest one since Wilbert Montgomery rumbled 42 yards to start the 1980 NFC Championship Game — was actually a troll job. That’s right. The most explosive play from Sunday’s spectacular 55-23 victory over the Commanders was a Jedi Mind Trick of epic proportions.
Montgomery’s historic run came on the second play from scrimmage in 1981, taking a delayed handoff from Ron Jaworski as if he were “shout out of a cannon” and exploiting a gaping hole up the right seam. The Eagles beat the hated Cowboys 20-7 that day to advance to Super Bowl XV.
Fast forward to 2025 — poetically, elegiacally, appropriately, on the five-year anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s tragic death — when Saquon Barkley loaded up his howitzer. Only this time, the play involved a bit of trickery and deception, all instigated by a sharp-witted quarterback who had done his homework earlier in the week.
The Eagles do it again
On the Eagles’ first play from scrimmage, Jalen Hurts lined up behind replacement center Landon Dickerson and looked like he was going to snap the football before slowly backing away from the formation while shouting: “Reload.” Barkley came over and turned his head in Hurts’ direction, an impromptu meeting of the minds unfolding, as Dickerson pointed at the defense and reconfigured the offensive line. Quickly, Jordan Mailata waved his arm and yelled at Dallas Goedert.
“I made an adjustment,” Hurts told reporters after the game. “I had to get us situated and get us to the right play.”DeVonta Smith read everything going on in real-time, springing out of his stance and going in motion across the formation.
Meanwhile, Hurts was already back under center and preparing to snap it. He hiked the ball and pitched it to Barkley who sprang loose toward the left sideline, following a vicious crack block from A.J. Brown that tumbled three Commanders. “I didn’t even see it. I was on the ground,” Brown said of Barkley’s run. “I was taking out like three guys and I didn’t even see what happened. It did everything to start the game up … the tempo, the mindset.”
Barkley, escorted by lead blocks from Mailata and Goedert on the left side, ran virtually untouched for 20 yards until he spun in reverse and turned it inside for another 40 yards. That 60-yard romp put the Eagles up 7-3 in a game they would never trail in again. Coincidence? No. Not at all.
How the Eagles fooled the Commanders
You see, the electrifying play was the rewarding result of relentless rumination in the film room, something Barkley couldn’t stop smiling about in the post-game locker room. “We knew that when you play a team two or three times, they kind of get a bead on some of your stuff,” Barkley said. “We gave them a dummy call and it worked to perfection.”
Wait, so Hurts faked them out? “Yes. Yes, he did,” right tackle Lane Johnson said. “And then he went back to the original play-call .. so, he checked it and then went back.” The Eagles love using gamesmanship whenever possible (see: Cam Jurgens’ status), with head coach Nick Sirianni constantly throwing the term “competitive advantage” around in press conferences. It’s not an act.
Taking it a step further, Mailata labeled the calculated trickery as “mental warfare” while crediting offensive line coach/run-game coordinator Jeff Stoutland for keeping everyone honest. “We pride ourselves on detail and technique,” Mailata said. “Every time we came off the bench, we were talking about plays we didn’t execute, and making sure if that play were called again, we executed and it led to points … so, yeah, having a coach like Stout, just making sure that we get those corrections on the sideline, and making sure that those are cleaned up.”
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
