NFL Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson has weighed in on Saquon Barkley's pursuit of the single-season NFL rushing record. He does not want the Philadelphia Eagles player to take the title from him.
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"I don't think he'll break (the record)," Dickerson told the Los Angeles Times. "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 set the highwater mark in 1984. He rushed for 2,105 yards in 16 games. This mark has stood in the decades since as players such as Chris Johnson, Terrell Davis, Jamal Lewis, Adrian Peterson, Barry Sanders, and Derrick Henry have all fallen short.
OJ Simpson was the first NFL running back to top 2,000 rushing yards. He achieved this feat during the 1973 season while only playing 14 games.
Barkley has not yet topped 2,000 yards this season, but he is close. He needs 162 yards to become the ninth player in NFL history to hit this milestone. After that, he needs another 105 yards to tie Dickerson and 106 to break the record.
The Eagles runner has two games to pile up these 267 rushing yards. His next matchup is with the Cowboys, a team he faced on Nov. 10. Barkley only rushed for 66 yards during this NFC East matchup.
The finale takes place against the Giants on Jan. 5. Barkley rushed for 176 yards and a touchdown in the first game against the Giants this season.
The concerning factor for Barkley and his fans is the quarterback situation. Jalen Hurts sustained a concussion during last weekend's loss to the Commanders. This knocked him out of the game and put Kenny Pickett under center. From that point on, the Commanders were able to focus on stopping Barkley.
Hurts has missed practice this week and remains unlikely to play against the Cowboys. If he remains out of the lineup as expected, the Eagles will become more one-dimensional. The Cowboys can focus on stopping Barkley, which would make it far more difficult to move within reach of Dickerson and the single-season record.
