Saquon Barkley made some NFL history on Sunday.
With a 23-yard run early in the fourth quarter of the Philadelphia Eagles’ blowout win over the Dallas Cowboys, Barkley joined one football’s most exclusive clubs. The burst off left tackle gave Barkley 167 yards on the day, and 2,005 yards on the season. The Eagles running back became just the ninth player in league history to reach 2,000 rushing yards in a single season.
After the run, Philadelphia head coach Nick Sirianni called a timeout to get Barkley out of the game in style, as offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland roared in celebration for an accomplishment that was as much Barkley’s as it was the players he coaches up front.
Even more history is on the horizon for Barkley. With one game remaining on Philadelphia’s schedule Barkley is just 100 yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards, set back in 1984. That means in the Eagles’ season finale Barkley can break a record that has stood for 40 years.
However, the Eagles are locked into the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs, and cannot improve on that position.
Should Barkley play in the season finale and try and reach that record, or should Philadelphia shut him down in a meaningless game, keeping their eyes on a much bigger prize?
This sounds like the perfect matter for Football Court….
Saquon Barkley should go after the record — JP Acosta
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, how often have we seen records get broken before our eyes in the modern NFL? Do we remember how excited we were when Peyton Manning broke the single-season passing record? How about the single-season receiving record broken by Calvin Johnson on Monday Night Football?
Eagles’ RB Saquon Barkley has the chance to do something special, breaking a record that’s stood since 1984 in Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record. Nobody has come closer to that record since Derrick Henry in 2020 and Adrian Peterson coming eight yards short, but my first reason for wanting Saquon to chase that record is simply because of that. We know how the RB position can be somewhat fleeting, and the backs that got close to that record since Dickerson set it haven’t come close to touching it in the seasons afterward. Henry has gone over 1,000 yards three times since, but none hitting the 2,000 mark at all. In the nine years since that near-historic season in 2012, Peterson only got over 1,000 yards three times and only played a full season in two of those seasons. Barkley might not ever get this chance again, so going after the record when he has it in striking distance is key. He averages about 22 carries per game, and if he can’t get 103 yards in that time he can be taken out.
However, I think the second, and more pivotal reason to do this, is for the human aspect of breaking the record in this game, against this opponent. That’s right, the Eagles play the New York Giants to end the season, at home. Saquon getting the chance to break the rushing record as one big middle finger to the front office who very publicly let him walk is about much more than the record. It’s about making the Giants remember that they let him go and he immediately made NFL history against them to end the season. NFL players are incredibly petty, so this driving factor might be the reason Saquon goes after it to end the season.
We might not get this season from someone ever again. Barkley should try and make it legendary.
The Eagles should rest Saquon Barkley — James Dator
Chances like Saquon Barkley’s aren’t just once-in-a-lifetime, they’re once in several generations. Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record has stood unchallenged since 1984, unwavering in the face of the running back boom of the late 2000s, when three down backs reigned supreme. We all know how monumental breaking this record would be for the history books, but when the dust settles there’s only one goal that matters when it comes to the NFL: Winning the Super Bowl.
Mr. Acosta mentions Peyton Manning’s single-season passing record and Calvin Johnson’s receiving record. Unquestionably fun moments, but fleeting. Now, as we sit here approaching Week 18 I wager the majority of you didn’t even remember these moments — but I could ask “Who won the Super Bowl in 2012?” and after some brief pondering you’d remember the Giants win over the Patriots.
Setting an individual record is a chance to be forever etched in the record books. Winning a Super Bowl gives you immortality in the memories of football fans. That is what is at stake, and that is why the Eagles need to be more forward-thinking than individual glory.
This season in the NFL has taught us that everything is wide open. No team is infallible, and that creates a scenario where literally anyone could make the Super Bowl. Ask Lions or Vikings fans who they’re most afraid to see in the playoffs and the common denominator is the Eagles. The reason for that fear: Saquon Barkley.
Barkley’s season is legendary independent of whether or not he gets 101 more yards in a meaningless game against the Giants. His brilliance is already established. The reason he decided to sign with Philadelphia was to win a Super Bowl, and this is the only chance he’s ever had that in his career.
Naturally I understand that the odds of Barkley getting injured against the Giants are very small. This is a running back who has carried the ball 345 times this season without incident, but that doesn’t mean he’s an unbreakable iron man. After all, in Barkley was hurt in 2019, suffered a torn ACL in 2020 — there is a history here of a single play causing momentous damage to his season. That’s the fire the Eagles are playing with by suiting him up for another 20-30 carries he really doesn’t need.
If Saquon was 300 yards off the record there wouldn’t be an argument. He never plays in this game. He is so pivotal to the Eagles offense, so brilliant that he’s carried Philadelphia through a down season by Jalen Hurts to still be the scariest home run team in the NFL. If Barkley goes down the entire season is sunk, and with there being no shot of securing the first week bye, there’s ample reason to have everyone healthy for the playoff push.
Saquon Barkley signed with the Eagles to win a Super Bowl. Not many players can say that had that opportunity, and as a 27-year-old running back it’s unclear how many more chances he’ll get to reach the mountaintop. For as incredible as Eric Dickerson’s career was, and how monumental that record is, there’s one phrase you won’t find when you CTRL+F his Wikipedia page: “Super Bowl.”
Individual records are fleeting. Made to be broken. Nobody can ever take a Super Bowl win from you, and when you have the kind of chance in a season like 2024, when everything is up in the air, you do anything to preserve those chances. Even if it means sacrificing individual glory.
Saquon Barkley knows this. The Eagles know this. They shouldn’t succumb to public pressure to force this record to happen.
Decision — Mark Schofield
At the outset, I would like to thank both Counsel Dator and Counsel Acosta for their well-reasoned arguments this morning.
As noted above, Barkley’s accomplishment of reaching the hallowed 2,000-yard rushing mark is a testament to his skill as a running back, and the incredible abilities of the offensive line in front of him. That Barkley even has a shot at catching Dickerson’s record is an accomplishment in itself, and going on to set a new single-season rushing record in this modern, passing-heavy era of NFL football would be an incredible achievement.
That said, the Eagles need to shut him down.
The chance that Barkley gets hurt in Philadelphia’s season finale while pursuing that record is slim, but it is not zero. What are the Eagles’ chances of winning a Super Bowl with Barkley on the sideline? Those might indeed be zero.
No team runs the football more than the Eagles, who ran the ball on almost 57% of their plays this season. Barkley has accounted for 37% of Philadelphia’s yards from scrimmage this season, a staggering percentage of the Eagles’ offensive production.
Yes, records are made to be broken. Going up against one of the worst run defenses in the league in Week 18, Barkley could set the record before halftime. There is also a case to be made that giving Barkley a chance at the record may come from necessity. After all, the Eagles may want to give Jalen Hurts some snaps after missing Week 17, and they’d want their starting offensive line in front of him to protect him, and likely their star running back alongside him as well.
Then there is the fact that Barkley could set that record against his former team, making the accomplishment that much sweeter for him in the end. This is a point well made by Counsel Acosta in his argument, and it is certainly not without merit.
Still, the running back himself said after reaching the 2,000-yard mark that there are more important things in sight beyond individual records.
“I came here to do something special, and obviously breaking the record is special,” said Barkley after beating the Cowboys.
“But I want a banner up there.”
Take the week off Saquon Barkley. You have earned it.
