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Saquon Barkley Addresses Possibility of Going for Single-Season Rushing Record

The Eagles star just needs one more big game to break Eric Dickerson’s all-time mark.

Tyler Lauletta

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley runs off the field after win against the Dallas Cowboys.
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley runs off the field after win against the Dallas Cowboys. / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
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Saquon Barkley wrote his name into the NFL history books on Sunday, becoming just the ninth player to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season.

Barkley went off against the Dallas Cowboys' defense, finishing the 41–7 Eagles victory with 167 yards on a whopping 31 carries. The big day pushed Barkley’s season total to 2,005 yards on the season, meaning that with 101 yards against the New York Giants next week, he could break Eric Dickerson’s all-time rushing record of 2,105.

After the win, Barkley addressed the possibility of reaching the mark in his team’s final game of the season, and downplayed the potential significance of such a feat.

“I’m not overtly trying to get it,” Barkley told reporters. “I’m not scared of it. I would love to, but we’ve got bigger things we’re focused on. Whether we play next week or rest, I’m fine with that. I didn’t sign here just to rush for 2,000 or break a record. I want to do something special with the team.”

Barkley was also quick to give credit to his teammates for helping him reach the 2,000-yard mark, saying repeatedly that “You can’t be great without the greatness of others.”

As Barkley hinted at, it’s unclear as to whether or not the Eagles will play their starters next week against the Giants. Currently, the Eagles hold the No. 2 seed in the NFC, and there is a good chance that the outcome of next week’s game will not effect their postseason position.

If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be surprising if head coach Nick Sirianni rested his starters in order to prepare for the playoff push.

That said, seeing Barkley on the field with a chance to break the all-time rushing record against the team that let him walk away less than a year ago would be some extremely compelling football.

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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.

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