Saquon Barkley is finally looking like himself but is he getting enough carries?

Saquon Barkley is finally looking like himself but is he getting enough carries? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

We're seeing signs of life from Saquon Barkley and the Eagles' running game.

We're just not seeing enough of them.

Barkley's 122-yard game Monday night in the 22-19 overtime loss to the Chargers continued an encouraging trend that's seen last year's record setter increase his rushing average from 3.3 yards per carry six weeks ago to 4.0 today.

His 52-yarder early in the fourth quarter was the Eagles' only touchdown of the game.

I know the type of ability that I have and the energy that I could bring," he said after the Eagles' loss to the Chargers Monday night. And I've just got to keep my foot on the gas and keep going and hopefully I'll make some more plays like that.

I know it's going to start breaking for us because I trust my work ethic and my preparation. I trust in the coaches and most importantly, I trust in the guys up front. We're going to keep grinding, keep working."

Over the last seven weeks, Barkley's 4.7 rushing average is tied with Bijan Robinson for 5th-highest in the entire NFL, and his 493 yards during that span are 6th-most.

First seven weeks: 53 yards per game, 3.3 yards per carry, 37th-highest of 38 backs with 50 or more carries.

Last seven weeks: 82 yards per game, 4.7 yards per carry, 13th-best of 41 backs with 50 or more carries.

We made some strides, but it doesn't matter," Barkley said. We didn't win the football game. So we watch it, move on and get better.

And I'm always going to start with myself, look in the mirror, and go back and watch film to see what I could have done better. Because there's always things you could have done better."

It's a good sign that the running game is finally working, but here's the concerning part. Despite this increase in production, the Eagles have gotten away from Barkley later in games.

He had just three 2nd-half carries in Dallas as the Eagles' lead slipped away. He had only 13 total rushing attempts against the Bears despite averaging 4.3 yards per carry. And he had only five 2nd-half carries Monday in L.A. despite averaging 5.3 yards per carry before halftime.

With a shaky passing game and an offensive line that's starting to run block better, he has only 17 2nd-half carries during the three-game losing streak.

It almost seems like the offensive coaches are calling plays as if the running game is still sputtering like it was the first half of the season. But it's not. And when you have a quarterback who's struggling big-time, the running game can be such a weapon.

But you have to dial it up.

Barkley is up to 12thin the NFL with 862 rushing yards, now on pace for more than 1,100 yards.

With his 60-yard TD against the Giants and his 52-yarder against the Chargers, he's one of only four backs with multiple 60-yard touchdown runs this year, along with Jahmyr Gibbs, TreVeyon Henderson and Jonathan Taylor.

Is he having the same success as last year? Nah. But the Eagles have found something in the running game, even though it remains under-utilized.

Despite the revived running game, the Eagles have scored just 81 points in their last five games, their fewest in a five-game stretch in 13 years.

They had seven trips inside the Chargers' 40-yard-line Monday without scoring a touchdown.

We just weren't consistent and that's been the theme for offense and for the team this whole season," Barkley said. Especially the later half of the season we haven't been consistent.

We know we've got to be better. (We) keep continuing to beat ourselves. Last year was last year, like we keep saying, and now we've just got to move on. We know this one's going to sting. We got a short week.

One of my favorite coaches used to always tell me, So what, now what?' And I think that's the mentality we got to take because we lost this game, we know we can do better, but we move on and get ready for the Raiders.

Everything we want is still in front of us, so we'vegot time to figure it out. And we've just got to figure it out sooner rather than later."