PHILADELPHIA -- There once was a time when the Philadelphia Eagles' single-season rushing mark seemed unbreakable.
Wilbert Montgomery rushed for 1,512 yards in 1979, and held the mark for 34 years. Then LeSean McCoy surpassed Montgomery, rushing for 1,607 yards in 2013 -- one of the greatest seasons for any player in Eagles history.
Saquon Barkley studied Montgomery and McCoy, along with what those two meant in the 91-year history of the Eagles. To be great, Barkley had to reach their level and then surpass that barometer. Barkley did just that, and it only took him 13 games.
"I never wrote goals down to break it, but you're always aware of it," Barkley said. "That's how I train. That's how I operate in the offseason and in camp, because I want to be great. It's something that I've wanted to do. It's something that I believe I can do, especially with the men and women in our facility -- they make it a lot easier for me."
The moment history was made.
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 8, 2024
The Eagles single-season rushing yards record belongs to Saquon Barkley. @saquon | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/3DDRTLlB2x
Now that Barkley is the single-season record holder for rushing yards in a season with 1,623, next up is the pursuit of 2,000 yards. Barkley is just 377 yards away from becoming the ninth player in NFL history to reach that mark.
Then it's running down Eric Dickerson, who holds the NFL single-season rushing record at 2,105 yards. Barkley is 483 yards away from passing Dickerson, and he's got four games to reach those heights.
"Obviously, that would be extremely cool to do, but at the end of the day, if it happens, it happens," Barkley said. "But not with the mindset of I'm scared to go try to do it. Whatever it takes to win football games, if that's in the way of it, then that's in the way of it.
"If it's not, then that doesn't matter to me. I want to win football games, and do something special for this city, and we know what that is."
Barkley came to Philadelphia to win a Super Bowl title, having an opportunity to play in this offense and run behind this offensive line -- a unit he gave immediate credit to upon setting the record. He needs to average just 120.5 rushing yards per game over the last four games to pass Dickerson, and currently leads the league with 124.8 rushing yards per game.
At Barkley's current pace, he will finish with 2,122 rushing yards. He's also averaging 6.1 yards per carry, on pace to become the first player to average 100-plus rushing yards per game and 6.0 yards per carry in a season since Adrian Peterson in 2012. Barkley would also become the first player to average 6.1-plus yards per carry and 120-plus yards per game in a season since Barry Sanders in 1997.
The pursuit of greatness is real.
"I'm very aware God has blessed me with a tremendous talent and put me in a great situation here with the Eagles," Barkley said. "That's why I wanted to come here, to be able to play behind those guys and to play with the organization -- to be able to do stuff like that. The consistency part is being able to focus on how great can I be every single day? Similar to the Mamba Mentality -- try to be the best version of myself every single day."
