Saquon Barkley could still break Eric Dickerson’s playoff record, plus a few others

While Barkley wasn't given the chance to top Dickerson's single-season rushing record, there are a handful of playoff records up for the taking

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley might not have topped Eric Dickerson's single season rushing record, but there's always his playoff rushing record.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

by Rob Tornoe

Published Jan. 12, 2025, 7:34 a.m. ET

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley didn’t get the chance to set a record for most rushing yards in a season, but there are a couple of postseason records he could topple, including one held by Eric Dickerson.

Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards during the regular season, 100 shy of the record 2,105 yards Dickerson ran for with the Los Angeles Rams in 1984. Dickerson was very vocal about not wanting Barkley to top his 40-year-old record and got his wish, when the Eagles rested their starters in Week 18 with nothing to play for.

“Am I cheering for someone to break my record? No, I don’t think anybody does,” Dickerson said in a video on social media last week. “If you have a record and you want somebody to break it, that’s on you. I’m different. I’m old-school.”

Here’s a rundown of some postseason rushing records Barkley could have on his sights as the Eagles prepare to take on the Green Bay Packers Sunday:

248 yards: Eric Dickerson currently holds the record for most rushing yards in a playoff game, which he set in 1986 against the Dallas Cowboys. Just eight players in NFL history have rushed for 200 yards or more in a single playoff game, and only three in the past 25 years:

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.
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.

Unlike Dickerson, Davis isn’t really worried about Saquon topping his record, 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 this 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.’”