Saquon Barkley is chasing Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record. This article will be updated to keep track of Barkley's progress.
Eric Dickerson holds the NFL single-season rushing record, having racked up 2,105 yards for the Los Angeles Rams in 1984. He did that during a 16-game season, while Barkley will have 17 games.
Barkley has 1,838 rushing yards through the first 15 games of the season. They have two remaining games, as they'll host the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17 and New York Giants in Week 18.
Barkley needs 268 rushing yards over the final two weeks of the season to set a new NFL single-season record. Barkley needs to average 134 yards per game the next two contests to break the record.
Eric Dickerson Says ‘Absolutely Not’ When Asked if He Wants Saquon Barkley To Break Rushing Recordhttps://t.co/pAHxcvcNAP
— On Pattison (@OnPattison) December 27, 2024
Dickerson spoke to Sam Farmer of The Los Angeles Times about Barkley's pursuit of his record.
"I don’t think he’ll break it. 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."
To his credit, Dickerson didn't try to discredit Barkley for having 17 regular-season games, as opposed to the 16 he had in 1984. Instead, he pointed out that he broke the record of O.J. Simpson, who rushed for 2,003 yards in 1973, when there were only 14 regular-season games.
Barkley is aiming to become the ninth running back in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season, joining Dickerson (2,105), Adrian Peterson (2,097), Jamal Lewis (2,066), Barry Sanders (2,053), Derrick Henry (2,027), Terrell Davis (2,008), Chris Johnson (2,006) and Simpson (2,003).
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