Jan 26, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) and running back Saquon Barkley (26) warm up before the NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher
Winning back-to-back Super Bowls in the NFL is hard. Just look at the 25 years. The only teams to accomplish the feat are the New England Patriots (2004-04) and Kansas City Chiefs (2022-23). The Eagles will look to join that elite company this upcoming season after winning their second Super Bowl in franchise history in February.
It's not going to be easy. Saquon Barkley clearly knows that. Barkley spoke about what it will take to repeat on former Eagle Chris Long's Green Light Podcast on Tuesday.
"The way you repeat is by completely forgetting what happened in the year prior," Barkley said to Long. "You're gonna have that forever. No one can ever change that, 2024 Super Bowl champs. The 2024 season has nothing to do with the 2025 season and that's fine. That's the hardest thing, right?
"Getting to the top of the mountains is hard, but staying up there is even harder. And how do you have the sustained success?"
Despite losing a couple key starters this offseason, the Eagles are still seen as one of the favorites to win it all next season. They have the best odds at +700, tied with the Baltimore Ravens and just ahead of the Buffalo Bills at +750, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
That shouldn't be very surprising. The only offensive starter they lost was Mekhi Becton. Yes, Josh Sweat and Milton Williams took more money to go elsewhere, but Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith and Zack Baun haven't gone anywhere.
There's a lot of continuity on the Eagles roster, but that doesn't mean Barkley feels the Eagles play style will be exactly the same.
"Like I said, you know the recipe, but it doesn't matter what happened the year prior. It's going to look different," Barkley said. "It might require me getting my yards in a different way. It might be Jalen (Hurts) having an MVP season ... it might be A.J. Brown having an MVP season. It might require us to score more points if the defense isn't playing to the level they did last year, or vice versa."
Saquon on being the Madden 26 cover athlete 🦅 pic.twitter.com/WYfSuQ0mYM
Every Super Bowl repeat attempt isn't created equal. The Chiefs and Patriots were always going to be threats to win it all due to having two of the greatest quarterbacks —Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady — and two of the best coaches — Andy Reid and Bill Belichick —of all time as their backbone.
Meanwhile, in 2018, the Eagles struggled. Carson Wentz returned after tearing his ACL, but then got hurt again. When he was shut down for the year, the Eagles were 6-7. That's before Nick Foles produced some more late-season magic, winning the final three regular season games and the Wild Card Round over the Chicago Bears.
That late run patched over what ended up being a weird season. This time around, the Eagles are more well-equipped to deal with the pressures of trying to repeat. In 2017, the Eagles hit on a number of veteran free agent signings — like Long, Alshon Jeffery, Patrick Robinson, LeGarrette Blount, Torrey Smith — who signed one-year deals. Some left after the championship, others stayed put. The difference in 2025 is the Eagles have plenty of young pieces locked down for the future.
Carter, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean are all cornerstone players on defense, while Hurts, Brown, Smith and Barkley and the Eagles offensive line complete a strong core.
If the Eagles were to make it to another Super Bowl, Barkley is hungry to have a better game.
He rushed 25 times for 57 yards versus the Chiefs. His 2.3 yards per carry were the lowest of the season. Barkley told Long that it was a harder game than when he had one yard on 13 carries against the New York Jets in 2019.
"It took me to understand at the beginning of the game where (the Chiefs) mindset was," Barkley said. "But, of course, I'm like, I'm under the impression that I'm going to make something shake, make something pop, but it wasn't my day."
Barkley acknowledged that his presence helped open up opportunities for Brown and Smith, who were left one-on-one on the outside for Hurts, which helped him win Super Bowl MVP.
Despite winning it all, Barkley does take motivation from the fact he didn't have a good game. He'll get another shot versus the Chiefs in Kansas City in Week 2 and maybe even in Super Bowl LX.
"I'm not like mad I didn't play great," Barkley said. "I got a ring. But at the same time, next time I'm there, I'm gonna be ready for the opportunity."
