Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro running back Saquon Barkley turned heads this week when he compared the 2024 Super Bowl team to some of the greatest in NFL history.
Considering the team put up the most combined points in the Super Bowl and conference championship game, Barkley's comments had some legitimacy to them.
Just don't tell that to Super Bowl champion wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson.
The former Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers star disagreed strongly with Barkley's claim with major comparisons throughout NFL history.
On FOX Sports' "Speak," the former Pro Bowl wideout made it clear that Barkley was wrong on all counts.
"In all honesty, buddy, nah not quite," Johnson said. "I understand that they won the Super Bowl and that he 2,000 yards and was getting ready to break the record and all sorts of things and they sat him down. But, no. They're not one of the top five teams in the history of the National Football League.
"I get it, I understand you feel good about your team, but when you start breaking it down historically, they're not there yet."
Does Johnson have some points?
The reality is, the numbers alone point to defend Barkley's claim more than the opposite. Only three teams in league history have won 18 games including the playoffs while winning the Super Bowl. No team won in the playoffs at the level the Eagles did last season.
Add in the fact that the Eagles schedule last year was nothing close to a cake walk (they played the AFC North division, as well as a second-place schedule from the year prior), and Philadelphia has as close to a modern claim to one of the best teams in league history as we have seen.
Having a two-time defending champion be down by a score of 34-0 and 40-6 late in the contest kind of enhances that point as well. … Even if Johnson doesn't agree.