Saquon Barkley has just joined an elite list. He became the ninth player in NFL history to run for at least 2,000 yards in a single season.
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The Philadelphia Eagles running back achieved the feat during the fourth quarter of Sunday's blowout win over the Dallas Cowboys. He took the handoff from third-string quarterback Tanner McKee and raced for 21 yards. This carry put him at 2,003 yards. He added two more yards before exiting the game.
Barkley joined OJ Simpson, Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, Jamal Lewis, Terrell Davis, Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, and Derrick Henry on the list of players to achieve this significant feat. Simpson hit the milestone in 14 games while the rest of the players on the list reached the mark in 16 games.
Saquon Barkley is just the 9th player in NFL history to reach 2,000+ rushing yards‼️@saquon | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/3o7SCoMWO0
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 29, 2024
Barkley has one game remaining this season, which he can use to add to his total. He already passed Simpson's mark of 2,003 yards. He needs three rushing yards in the regular-season finale to pass Johnson and five to pass Davis.
Of course, those marks are meaningless at this point. The only milestone remaining for Barkley is the all-time record. Dickerson set this mark by rushing for 2,105 yards in 1984. No other player has matched the Hall of Famer.
Peterson was the closest to breaking Dickerson's record. He rushed for 2,097 yards in 2012 and fell eight yards short of the tie during a game against the rival Packers.
Now that the league has extended the regular season to 17 games, Barkley will have an opportunity that none of the other 2,000-yard rushers before him had. He will have an extra game to pursue Dickerson's record, provided the Eagles let him suit up in a meaningless game.
The path to the record is straightforward. Barkley needs 100 yards to tie Dickerson. He needs 101 yards to break the record and put his name atop the single-season leaderboard.
The location of the finale is fitting considering that Barkley spent the first six seasons of his NFL career with the Giants. The team had an opportunity to give him a contract extension but opted to give the big-money deal to Daniel Jones.
The Giants have struggled to a 3-13 record this season while rushing for a team total of 1,683 yards. Barkley has rushed for more than 2,000 yards while helping the Eagles win the NFC East with a record of 13-3.
