Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record has stood for 40 years, and he does not think it is going to fall this season to Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley.
Barkley enters the Eagles’ stretch run with 1,838 yards, leaving him just 268 yards away from breaking the record.
He potentially has two games to break it, assuming the Eagles do not sit him in a potentially meaningless Week 18 game.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times this week, Dickerson said he doubts Barkley will get the yardage required to become the new single-season record-holder. Not only that, but he does not want Barkley to take 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.”
Dickerson is not bothered by the fact Barkley would potentially have a 17th game to break his record in, pointing out that he reached 2,000 yards initially in 15 games when O.J. Simpson — whose record Dickerson broke — did it in 14 games. He also noted that 2,000 yards is a huge accomplishment, no matter how many games it takes. He is right, as only eight running backs have ever done it.
Having said all of that, Dickerson is probably correct in that Barkley is unlikely to get the 268 yards he needs.
For one, he would need to average 134 yards if he played in both games. As great as Barkley’s season has been, he has topped 134 yards just one time over the past four weeks.
There is also the possibility that Barkley might not even play in the Eagles’ Week 18 game.
If they clinch the NFC East on Sunday with a win over the Dallas Cowboys, the Eagles would have pretty much nothing to play for in Week 18 against the New York Giants unless they get some serious help in the quest for the No. 1 seed.
As much as Barkley might like to break the record, and as much as he might like to do it against his former team, it would simply not be worth the risk with the playoffs looming.
Topping the 2,000-yard mark is certainly within range for Barkley this week, but odds are he is probably going to fall just short of the record.