Eagles running back Saquon Barkley is on pace to break the NFL single-season record. And he’ll benefit from facing a soft defensive schedule the rest of the way.
Barkley has 1,499 rushing yards in 12 games this season. That puts him on pace to gain 2,124 yards in a 17-game season. The NFL record is 2,105 yards, set by Eric Dickerson in 1984. (In a 16-game season). If Barkley continues to put up yardage at the same pace he has in his first 12 games as an Eagle, he will break the record.
But Barkley has a great chance to really step up his rushing output thanks to the rest of the Eagles’ schedule.
On Sunday, the Eagles face the Panthers, whose defense is allowing an NFL-worst 166.8 yards per game. Barkley should feast against Carolina.
Then Barkley must face the Steelers, who are fourth-best in the NFL with 90.5 rushing yards allowed per game. But that’s the only tough game left on the schedule.
In the last three weeks, the Eagles face their three division opponents: the Cowboys (allowing 147.6 rushing yards per game, making them the second-worst defense in the NFL), the Giants (allowing 145.8 rushing yards per game, fourth-worst in NFL), Commanders (allowing 137.0 rushing yards per game, sixth worst in NFL).
Barkley has already faced all three divisional opponents once this season and racked up 388 rushes in those three games — and was benched early in two of those three games because the Eagles were winning the shots.
With five games remaining, Barkley has a great chance to take from Dickerson what Dickerson did to OJ Simpson and become the NFL’s all-time single-season champion.