2024 Monday Night Football best bet: Back Barkley Over rushing, receiving yards

National Football League

Updated Sep. 16, 2024 2:43 p.m. ET

Less than a year removed from representing the NFC in the Super Bowl, the Eagles started off last season 10-1 before imploding down the stretch, finishing the regular season 11-6 and crashing out in the wild-card round.

Now, they’re 1-0, looking to stay undefeated to start the 2024 season as they take the field to host the Atlanta Falcons (0-1) on Monday Night Football.

But there is one huge difference with this Philly team: Saquon Barkley.

While the Eagles lost all-world center Jason Kelce to retirement this offseason, they picked up another offensive juggernaut (albeit not on the offensive line) in Barkley.

In Week 1, he rushed the ball 24 times for 109 yards and two touchdowns, and also caught two passes for 23 yards and a score.

With that, let’s get into my pick for Monday night.

Atlanta Falcons @ Philadelphia Eagles (8:15 p.m. ET, ABC)

I’m going with Barkley over 100.5 rushing and receiving yards. Barkley was featured prominently in the Eagles’ Week 1 win over the Packers. With A.J. Brown unavailable tonight, I would expect Barkley to see the same workload and be used in the pass game on screens to generate explosive plays.

PICK: Barkley Over 100.5 rushing and receiving yards combined

Geoff Schwartz is an NFL analyst for FOX Sports. He played eight seasons in the NFL for five different teams. He started at right tackle for the University of Oregon for three seasons and was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection his senior year. Follow him on Twitter @GeoffSchwartz.

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