Eagles running back Saquon Barkley joined a very select group of NFL players this season by reaching the 2,000-yard rushing mark, leading his team to the postseason for just the second time in his seven-year career.
Saquon Barkley is just the 9th player in NFL history to reach 2,000+ rushing yards‼️@saquon | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/3o7SCoMWO0
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 29, 2024
He joined some of the best to ever play the game: Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, Adrian Peterson to name a few.
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Barkley’s team-record performance was one of the best offensive seasons in league history, but how significant will it be if the team doesn’t go deep in the playoffs?
The history of the league’s best single-season rushers tells us that 2,000 yards is almost never a sign of a postseason success.
Beginning with when O.J. Simpson of the Bills broke the barrier way back in 1973, eight running backs (aside from Barkley) have reached 2,000 rushing yards in a season. Two of them – Simpson and Chris Johnson of the 2009 Titans – played for teams that failed to make the postseason.
Of the remaining six, five of them failed to win a game in the postseason that followed their amazing campaign.
Dickerson gained 2,105 yards with the 1984 Los Angeles Rams, and gained another 107 and scored a touchdown in the wild card round against the Giants. But he couldn’t carry his team and L.A. lost, 16-13.
Peterson fell just short of Dickerson’s record, gaining 2,097 in 2012 for the Vikings on the way to an MVP award. That included 409 yards in two games against the NFC North rival Packers. But the third time was the charm for Green Bay’s defense, which loaded up the front line and held A.D. to 99 yards on 22 carries in a decisive 24-10 win.
Baltimore’s Jamal Lewis cracked 2K in 2003, but was completely stymied by the No. 1-ranked run defense of the Tennessee Titans. Lewis gained just 35 yards on 14 carries, and lost 20-17 on a last-minute field goal by 44-year-old Gary Anderson.
Sanders won MVP honors for his 2,000-yard season in 1997, and faced a Buccaneers team that he gashed for 215 yards when they met in Week 7 that season. But Tampa turned the tables in the wild card round, holding Sanders to 65 yards on 18 carries in a 20-10 win over the Lions.
Before Barkley, the most recent 2K rusher was Tennessee’s Derrick Henry (2,027). But mustered just 40 yards against the Ravens in a 20-13 wild card defeat.
Only Hall of Famer Terrell Davis followed up his 2K season with any playoff success, continuing his dominance all the way to a win in Super Bowl XXXIII, and topping 100 yards in each of his team’s three playoff wins.
One thing Davis had with him that the other running backs couldn’t boast was above-average quarterback play. John Elway was on his way to the Hall of Fame. The other five quarterbacks on this list? Hardly.
Try Ryan Tannehill, Scott Mitchell, Anthony Wright, Joe Webb (!), and former Eagles legend Jeff Kemp.
First off, if you have a team bringing a running back the likes of these into a playoff game, you can bet the opposing defense will make stopping him a priority.
Moreover, if those teams also feature substandard QBs, the job of stopping that running back becomes a whole lot easier.
Fortunately for Barkley, Jalen Hurts won’t be confused with Joe Webb anytime soon.