Saquon Barkley eyes two long-standing NFL playoff records against the Commanders
Barkley wasn't given the chance to top Dickerson's single-season rushing record. But there are two long-standing playoff rushing records Barkley could break Sunday against the Commanders.
Saquon Barkley has his eyes on the Super Bowl, but the Eagles running back could end up breaking some long-standing NFL records on his way to New Orleans.
It would be fitting after Barkley ended up just 100 yards short of Eric Dickerson’s long-standing NFL single season rushing record of 2,105 yards, which he set in 1984. With the Eagles locked in to the No. 2 seed, Barkley wasn’t given the chance in Week 17, but that won’t be the case in Sunday’s NFC championship game against the Washington Commanders.
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Barkley needs 148 rushing yards to break the NFL record for most rushing yards in a single season, set by Hall of Famer Terrell Davis in 1998. That season Davis ran for a total of 2,476 yards counting the regular season, two playoff games and Super Bowl XXXIII (the Denver Broncos had a first-round bye).
In two games against the Commanders poorly ranked run defense this season, Barkley rushed for a combined 296 yards, which averages out to 148 yards per game.
Unlike Eric Dickerson and the single-season rushing record, Davis isn’t really worried about Barkley topping his total, mostly because not many people outside of Philly sports talk radio seem aware of it.
“No one talks about my record,” Davis said with a laugh in an interview with The Inquirer last week. “But nah, I’m good. There’s really no reaction to it. Let’s say he gets close, and he breaks it, or whatever, … at least I can show my kids, ‘Hey, man, at one point, I had the record. At one point, your dad was OK.’”
Here’s a rundown of some postseason rushing records Barkley could have on his sights as the Eagles prepare for the NFC championship game:
248 yards: Eric Dickerson holds the record for most rushing yards in a playoff game, which he set in 1986 against the Dallas Cowboys. Barkley became just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 200 or more yards in a single playoff game last week against the Los Angeles Rams. There’s been just one player to rush for more than 200 yards in a conference championship game — 49ers running back Raheem Mostert ripped off 220 yards against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game on Jan. 19, 2020.
5 touchdowns: This one might be a stretch due to the Eagles reliance on the tush push, but former Birds running back Ricky Watters holds the record for most rushing touchdowns in a single game, which he set in 1994 with the San Francisco 49ers.
610 yards: Hall of Famer John Riggins still holds the record for most rushing yards in a single postseason, which he set during Washington’s Super Bowl run in 1982. Entering the NFC championship game, Barkley has 324 rushing yards, so in all likelihood the Birds will need to advance to the Super Bowl for him to have a shot at this one.
2,476 yards: Hall of Famer Terrell Davis holds the rushing record for the most combined yards in the regular season and playoffs, which he set with the Denver Broncos in 1998. If the Eagles make it to the Super Bowl, they’d play four postseason games, meaning Barkley would need to average about 118 yards a game to top Davis’ record.