Eagles’ Saquon Barkley reaches 2,000-yard milestone as Philadelphia clinches NFC East
(CNN) — Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley became just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season in a dominant winning performance against Dallas on Sunday.
The Eagles also clinched the NFC East division crown with a 41-7 drubbing of the rival Cowboys.
With starting quarterback Jalen Hurts absent while in the league’s concussion protocol and backup Kenny Pickett exiting the game early with a rib injury, the Eagles leaned hard on their MVP candidate running back.
As has been the case all season, Barkley was up to the task. The seventh-year back carried the ball 31 times for 167 yards, raising his season total to 2,005 rushing yards.
Barkley reached the historic 2,000-yard plateau on a 23-yard yard run early in the fourth quarter. With the milestone reached and the game no longer in doubt, the Eagles chose to let the 27-year-old star enjoy the rest of the day from the sideline.
“I can’t lie, it’s amazing. It was fun,” Barkley told broadcaster Fox of his feat after the game.
“But at the end of the day, the most important thing was to get a win to clinch the division.”
Barkley also used his postgame interview with Fox to heap praise on his Eagles teammates.
“At the end of the day, my name will be the one that goes across with 2,000, but like I said, you can’t do it without those guys,” Barkley said.
“They did all the work, I just followed them, and they made me look a lot better.”
Barkley’s remarkable first year in an Eagles jersey already has him in rarified air among the NFL’s all-time greats.
The list of 2,000-yard rushers is small, but includes the likes of O.J. Simpson, Barry Sanders, Adrian Peterson and most recently Derrick Henry, who rushed for 2,027 yards in 2020.
“Being a fan of the game and the running back position, to reach a milestone and put myself up there with eight other backs that I respect – some of them I grew up watching – definitely means a lot,” Barkley said after the game.
Barkley now needs just 101 yards in the Eagles’ season finale to break Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record of 2,105, set in 1984. Dickerson set the record in a 16-game season, prior to the NFL’s expansion to make the regular season 17 games in 2021.
Earlier this week, Dickerson told the Los Angeles Times that he didn’t want to see his 40-year-old record fall and predicted that Barkley would come up short.
“Do I want him to break it? Absolutely not. I don’t pull no punches on that,” Dickerson said.
“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.”
Before Dickerson’s record-setting year, the only player who had eclipsed 2,000 yards in a season was Simpson, who ran for an astounding 2,003 yards in 1973 when the NFL season was just 14 games.
In an ironic twist, Barkley’s shot at history will come against his former team the New York Giants, who drafted him with the second overall pick in the 2018 draft.
But with the NFC East secured and the postseason looming, the Eagles will have a tough choice to make – rest Barkley to keep him healthy for the playoffs, or let him run for the record books?
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni played it close to the vest after the game.
“We’ll see,” the fourth year head coach said. “I always gotta do what’s right for the football team to reach our goals of what we need to do.”
Barkley offered some insight into his mindset during his postgame press conference
“It’s up to Nick, to be honest,” Barkley said of the situation. “And whatever his decision is, I’m all for it.”
“I didn’t come here and sign here just to rush for 2,000 or break a record,” Barkley said. “I want to do something special, meaning special with the team.”
The-CNN-Wire
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