The Philadelphia Eagles (12-3) are becoming one of the top contenders in the 2024 playoff picture. The Birds have one of the NFL’s deepest and most talented rosters. The NFC East has not had a repeat division champion for 20 consecutive seasons and the Eagles are one win away from locking up the division title. They came up short on Sunday in Week 16 against the Washington Commanders (10-5) without quarterback Jalen Hurts, who suffered a concussion in the first half. Still, Saquon Barkley continued to storm his way toward history.
In the offseason, the Eagles re-tooled the defense to pair with a star-studded offensive lineup including Hurts, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. But no move this offseason was bigger than bringing in superstar running back Saquon Barkley. The last time a non-quarterback earned NFL MVP honors was in 2012, and Barkley has made a strong case to shake up the status quo in 2024.
Will Saquon Barkley break the single-season rushing yards record?
The former No. 2 overall pick is as explosive and electric as it comes in the backfield. Barkley rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s loss. He scampered for 109 yards in the first quarter but was held in check for the remainder of the game. He has 1,838 rushing yards through 15 games and leads the NFL with 42 runs of at least 10 yards.
Barkley could break the single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards set by Eric Dickerson in 1984. Heading into Week 16, he needed to average 139.3 yards per game to break the record and exceeded that pace against Washington.
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On his 68-yard touchdown run in the first half against the Commanders, he tied Adrian Peterson (2012) and Jim Brown (1963) for the most rushing touchdowns of 60 or more yards in a season, with four such instances apiece. Both Hall of Fame running backs won MVPs in those years.
Barkley runs behind an offensive line that has managed the most rushing yards before contact (3.9) in the NFL. Offensive linemen Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata and Landon Dickerson have helped make this one of the most dominant rushing offenses in modern NFL history. Philadelphia leads the NFL with 554 rush attempts (Pittsburgh second-most 479). Only eight players have rushed for over 2,000 yards in a season and Barkley needs just 162 to reach that mark.
Eric Dickerson’s record is in Saquon’s sights with two games remaining in the regular season.
Barkley has averaged 122.5 rushing yards per game to this point and needs to average 134 per game over the final two weeks to break the record.
The Eagles and Barkley host the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17 and finish the regular season at home against the New York Giants. In the first meetings this season, he rushed for 66 yards against Dallas and 176 yards against Big Blue. The Cowboys have allowed the fifth-most rushing yards per game (135.9) and the Giants second-most (142.6).
The single-season rushing record could be broken against the team that let him walk to their division rivals in free agency.
