PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Saquon Barkley is down to his final game to try to break Eric Dickerson’s season rushing record.
Can Barkley actually topple the 40-year-old mark of 2,105 yards set by the Los Angeles Rams great?
Absolutely — if he plays.
The Philadelphia Eagles clinched the NFC East title and the No. 2 seed in the NFC with a rout Sunday over Dallas, which makes the season finale essentially a glorified preseason game.
Don't expect the Eagles to play quarterback Jalen Hurts — who sat out against Dallas with a concussion — and most key starters against New York. The Eagles will essentially treat Sunday like a bye.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni will surely feel the pull to rest Barkley, too. Why play in a nothing game and risk injury to perhaps their most valuable player and only the ninth running back in NFL history to top 2,000 yards rushing in a season?
The NFL rushing leader with 2,005 yards, Barkley is only 101 yards from topping Dickerson's mark.
The 27-year-old Barkley was politically correct after he ran for 167 yards against Dallas — yes, he wanted the record, but he's willing to do what's best for the team, even if that means sitting out the last game.
Barkley gets an extra shot at the NFL record thanks to a 17th game of the season that Dickerson and the NFL did not have in 1984.
Here’s a look at what’s ahead for Barkley and his chances of catching Dickerson:
Where does Barkley stand in the record chase?
Barkley could clear 100 yards in the first half against the Giants. The Giants are 31st in the NFL against the run and Barkley ran for 176 yards and a touchdown in his first career game against them earlier this season.
Barkley is a hefty 222 yards ahead of Baltimore's Derrick Henry at 1,783 for the NFL lead.
Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson ran for 2,097 yards in 2012 and is second on the season rushing list.
Barkley could use the rest. He leads the NFL with 345 carries and averages a league-high 125.3 yards rushing per game.
What they're saying
Barkley on playing Sunday:
“I mean, it’s up to Nick, to be honest. And you know, whatever his decision is, I’m all for it. If his mindset is, we’ll go out there and try it, I’ll go out there and try it. But (if) his mindset is, let’s rest and get ready for this run, then I’m all for that, too. I’m not just saying that because a camera’s in my face or mics in my face. I really mean that. I came here to do something special, and obviously breaking the record is special. But I want a banner up there."
Sirianni on possibly using Barkley against the Giants:
“We’ll do what we need to do, what’s right for the football team. Always got to do what’s right for the football team to reach our goals of what we need to do. Like I said, I’ve got a lot to think about.”
Dickerson to the Los Angeles Times on Barkley possibly breaking his record:
“I don’t think he’ll break it. But if he breaks it, he breaks it. Do I want him to break it? Absolutely not. I don’t pull no punches on that. But I’m not whining about it. He had 17 games to do it? Hey, football is football. That’s the way I look at it. If he’s fortunate to get over 2,000 yards and get the record, it’s a great record to have.”
Why is Barkley with the Eagles?
Barkley has flourished in his first season with the Eagles.
Barkley might enjoy the delicious twist of setting the record against his old team, the Giants — but surely not the 17th-game asterisk that would come with the total.
Barkley was drafted out of Penn State with the No. 2 overall pick in 2018. He was an instant success in New York and ran for 1,307 yards his rookie season. Barkley ran for 5,211 yards and 35 touchdowns and had 288 receptions for 2,100 yards and 12 TDs in six years with the Giants.
He hit free agency after the Giants elected not to put a franchise tag on him.
Barkley signed a three-year deal with the Eagles for $26 million guaranteed and $37.75 million overall, making him the highest-paid running back in franchise history.
His free agency was chronicled by the reality sports documentary television series “Hard Knocks.”
In the crucial scene, Giants general manager Joe Schoen told Barkley the Giants would not make him an offer, nor stick the franchise tag on him. Rather, the Giants would let Barkley test the free-agent market, a move that sent him to an NFC East rival.
“I’ll have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia, I’ll tell you that,” team owner John Mara said to Schoen in the series. “As I’ve told you, just being around enough players, he’s the most popular player we have, by far.”
Under general manager Howie Roseman, the Eagles generally had been loath to use high draft picks or valuable salary cap space on a running back.
Barkley was deemed a worthy exception.
Who was Eric Dickerson?
Sporting his trademark goggles and Jheri curl, Dickerson was one of the great running backs in the 1980s, and the Hall of Famer was widely considered one of the best of all time.
Dickerson finished his career with 13,259 yards, the ninth-most in NFL history. Emmitt Smith holds the career NFL rushing record with 18,355 yards.
In 1984, Dickerson topped 100 yards rushing 12 times to break O.J. Simpson's 1973 record with Buffalo of 2,003 yards rushing in a single season.
Simpson set his record in 14 games before the NFL expanded to 16 in 1978. The NFL moved to 17 games in 2021.
“I don’t sit down and watch games, except the Rams, and I work for the team. But I’ll have no choice but to keep up with it because I get so many text messages,” Dickerson told the Times. "People blowing up my phone like, ‘Man, it’s not fair. He gets 17 games,’ or, ‘We’re going to put a hex on him.’”
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL
Dan Gelston, The Associated Press
