Saquon Barkley’s running back over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 9 is not on a statue like the Philly Special (not yet), but it has quickly become one of the most talked-about Eagles plays of the year.
In case you missed it — or just want to hear about it again — the Eagles running back caught a pass in the second quarter of the Nov. 3 game and spun around linebacker Devin Lloyd. Then Barkley, with his back to approaching defender Jarrian Jones, jumped a few feet in the air as Jones passed underneath. Then Barkley turned back around and landed on the ground with the football safely in hand.
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The crowd went crazy, as did the crowd Birds fans online.
Now anyone playing as the Eagles in the video game Madden 25 can recreate the move to break free from the unwitting opposing defenders.
Electronic Arts, which developed Madden 25 through its EA Sports division, announced a slew of updates added to the game on Wednesday, including the spin-hurdle move.
The move, which the developers called “creatively alien,” will only be available when the player-controlled team has possession of the ball and Barkley is carrying it. The player can perform the turning hurdle move when a defender comes up close from a 45 degree angle. Then the player must press the obstacle button at the right time.
A video of the move was shared on the Madden Instagram account (and Barkley posted it to his Instagram Story).
Head coach Nick Sirianni praised Barkley’s athleticism during a post-game press conference.
“The Saquon play…what I think is so cool is that there will be kids all over the country and all over Philadelphia…trying to make that play and talking about that play and simulating that play while watching football in playing the backyard or pee-wee football,” Sirianni said.
“They won’t make it because I think he’s the only one in the world who can do that,” he added.
We’re still waiting for the Madden developers to add the special Donovan McNabb taunt that lets you pick up the phone on the opponent’s sidelines.
Madden 25 is available on Xbox, PlayStation and Windows.
