Eagles Today

Saquon Barkley Continues Chasing Greatness, Rewriting Eagles Record Book

The Philadelphia Eagles running back took over another spot at the top in the Eagles' record book with in a 28-22 win over the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Ed Kracz|
Jan 19, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) carries the ball against the Los Angeles Rams in the second half in a 2025 NFC divisional round game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Jan 19, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) carries the ball against the Los Angeles Rams in the second half in a 2025 NFC divisional round game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

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Philadelphia Eagles

PHILADELPHIA – Saquon Barkley is always aware of the historical significance of what he’s doing. The Eagles running back peaked at the team’s record book leading up to Sunday’s 28-22 win over the Los Angeles Rams just to see who had the record for the most rushing yards in a playoff game.

After putting up 255 against the Rams on Nov. 24, he had an inkling that it could be something he breaks. He was right. He ran for another 205 against L.A. and broke Steve Van Buren’s record of 196 yards rushing in the NFL Championship Game. In 1949, 76 years ago. A different time, a different era.

“It's special,” he said. “Sometimes you know...you chase greatness. I want it. I felt like this week, you know, I felt I had a good game last week. If I would have scored (he slid), numbers look different. But you want to create a legacy and I want to have those types of games. Just visualizing stuff and wondering what the number is and it's funny how that happened.”

Not funny for the Rams. Not when their defense allows Barkley to run for touchdowns from 62 and 78 yards, which is the longest touchdown run in Eagles playoff history. He now has six rushing touchdowns from 60-plus yards and that is the most in NFL history.

Barkley tortured the Rams in two games, putting up 302 total yards in their first meeting then tacking on another 232 on Sunday for a total of 534 and four touchdowns in two games.

With 2,329 yards total rushing yards between the regular season and playoffs, he is now just three yards away from moving into second on the NFL’s all-time list for most yards rushing in one season. Terrell Davis holds the top two spots, running for 2,331 in 1997 then taking the record a bit further when he put up 2,476 in 1998.

The Eagles have had some great running backs in their history - Van Buren, Wilbert Montgomery, Brian Westbrook, Duce Staley, and LeSean McCoy to name a few, but Barkley is the best of the bunch and may go down in history as the greatest free agent signing in the history of all four professional teams in city history.

“Whether it’s the national spotlight or Saturday in the parking lot, it doesn't really matter,” said Barkley. “I just want to make the plays for the time. Lock it in and stay focused.”

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Ed Kracz
ED KRACZ

Ed Kracz has been covering the Eagles full-time for over a decade and has written about Philadelphia sports since 1996. He wrote about the Phillies in the 2008 and 2009 World Series, the Flyers in their 2010 Stanely Cup playoff run to the finals, and was in Minnesota when the Eagles secured their first-ever Super Bowl win in 2017. Ed has received multiple writing awards as a sports journalist, including several top-five finishes in the Associated Press Sports Editors awards.

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