Saquon Barkley, Eagles further silence early critics with seventh straight win 

Some were ready to write off the Philadelphia Eagles after their 2-2 start. But on Sunday night, the Eagles proved once again they are a serious threat. 

Philadelphia defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 37-20, to move its record to 9-2, a far cry from what was being said about the team just a couple months ago. 

Veteran radio host Colin Cowherd even went in on head coach Nick Sirianni during Philadelphia's bye week that came on the heels of a 33-16 loss to the Buccaneers.  

"Philadelphia is about ready to go off a cliff after Sunday. It’s time to go get an adult coach who has won, who is a proven, who is a veteran ... I could see Philadelphia moving off Sirianni in two weeks. Seriously, that’s what they do. They move off Super Bowl-winning coaches. Chip Kelly had a winning record. They’d absolutely move off this," ranted Cowherd. 

Fast forward to the start of this week and the Eagles are coming off one of their most impressive team performances of the season, highlighted by a monster game from star running back Saquon Barkley. The two-time Pro Bowler and first-year Eagle gashed the Rams' defense all night long, rushing for 255 yards and scoring a pair of touchdowns. He also made four receptions for 47 yards. 

Jalen Hurts was efficient and clean, completing 15-of-22 passes for 179 yards through the air and then adding 39 more on the ground. A.J. Brown posted his fourth 100-yard receiving game of the season, catching six balls for 109 yards with a score. The Eagles totaled 481 yards in the win.  

Philadelphia made its loudest statement of the season a national stage. The road victory across the country was the Eagles' seventh straight win following their up and down start to the season. 

While some could bring up the quality of their opponents early on during this win streak — the Eagles' first four wins in the streak were against teams with a losing record (Browns, Giants, Bengals, Jaguars). But the Rams are a team who decided to retain Cooper Kupp, believing they could contend. And the two wins before this latest one over Los Angeles came over NFC East divisional rivals — Dallas and Washington. 

Lost in the offensive numbers, the defense has been an underrated force to be reckoned with in recent weeks, allowing only 44 points in their last three games combined. The Eagles defense also forced four fumbles in Los Angles, granted only coming away with one turnover.  

Now just a couple months after fans and media were questioning if Sirianni was the right coach to get the Eagles back in the Super Bowl and win it this time — he led Philadelphia to an NFC crown and a Super Bowl LVII loss to the Chiefs in his second season, he has his team sitting at the top of the division standings and in the thick of the NFC race.  

Based on the fact most believe the NFC, and really the NFL as a whole, is wide open this year, there's no denying the Eagles need recognized as a threat, especially if Barkley keeps up his torrid pace.