Saquon Barkley had more touchdown runs of at least 70 yards Sunday night than Hall of Famers Terrell Davis, Walter Payton, Eric Dickerson, Emmitt Smith, Thurman Thomas, John Riggins, Marcus Allen and Gale Sayers had … IN THEIR CAREERS.
Barkley turned in one of the greatest performances by a running back in NFL history Sunday night in the Eagles’ 37-20 win over the Rams at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
And we have the stats to prove it.
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1. Two 70-yard TDs: Barkley became only the sixth player in NFL history with multiple TD runs of at least 70 yards in the same game and the first to do it in a second half. The only other players with two 70-yarders in the same game are Hall of Famers Barry Sanders and Lenny Moore, plus Maurice Jones-Drew, Frank Gore and Frenchy Fuqua. Among the Hall of Famers who never had a single 70-yard TD run in their entire career are Edgerrin James, Marcus Allen, John Riggins, Larry Csonka and Gale Sayers. Barkley had two in the second half.
2. He’s already rushed for nearly 1,400 yards: Barkley’s 1,392 rushing yards are 8th-most in NFL history through 11 games, and his 6.2 rushing average is 3rd-highest of those eight backs, behind only Jim Brown in 1963 and Chris Johnson in 2009. Only Barkley and Brown 61 years ago have had 1,300 rushing yards, a 6.2 average and 10 rushing TDs through 11 games. Barkley has 314 more rushing yards than anybody else in Eagles history after 11 games. Wilbert Montgomery had 1,078 in 1979. Barkley already has the 5th-most rushing yards in Eagles history with six games remaining. He needs 216 the rest of the year to pass LeSean McCoy, who set the franchise record of 1,607 in 16 games in 2013. At his current pace, he’ll catch Shady on Thursday.
3. One of the greatest starts ever: Barkley’s 1,649 scrimmage yards are 10th -most in NFL history through 11 games, and he’s only the eighth player in history with 1,649 scrimmage yards and 12 touchdowns through 11 games. Among the others are Walter Payton, Eric Dickerson and and Priest Holmes. With six games left, Barkley already has the 9th-most scrimmage yards in Eagles history in a single season. Only LeSean McCoy (twice), Brian Westbrook (twice), Wilbert Montgomery (twice) and Ricky Watters (twice) have had more. Barkley has nearly 200 more scrimmage yards than anybody else in Eagles history through 11 games. Westbrook had 1,459 in 2007.
4. Most in 47 years: Including his 255-yard outburst and 47 receiving yards Sunday night along with 146 rushing yards and 52 receiving yards against the Commanders, Barkley has 500 scrimmage yards in his last two games, the most any player has recorded in a two-game span in 47 years. In 1977, Walter Payton had 525 scrimmage yards in a two-game span against the Vikings and Lions. The only other player with 500 scrimmage yards in a two-game stretch is Hall of Famer (and one-time Eagle) Ollie Matson of the Chicago Cardinals, who had 503 yards in two games in 1954. The previous Eagles record for a two-game stretch was Brian Westbrook’s 383 yards against Washington and Detroit early in 2007. Barkley beat that by over 100 yards.
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5. Gosh, that’s a lot of yards: Barkley had 146 rushing yards against the Commanders before his 255-yard outburst Sunday night. He’s only the 11th player in history with 400 rushing yards in a two-game span, the first since Derrick Henry, then with the Titans, had 408 in a two-game span in 2018. The previous Eagles record? Of course it was Bryce Brown with 347 in 2012. Barkley also has 500 scrimmage yards the last two weeks.
6. 255 yards? In one game??? Barkley’s 255 rushing yards Sunday are 9th-most in NFL history and most in 15 years, since Jamaal Charles of the Chiefs ran for 259 yards against the Broncos in Denver on the last day of the 2009 season. It’s the 4th-most rushing yards ever in a road game, behind one-time Eagle Jerome Harrison’s 286 yards for the Browns in Kansas City in 2009, O.J. Simpson’s 273 for the Bills in Detroit in 1976 and Charles’ 259 in 2009. Barkley set a record for most rushing yards ever against the Rams. Former Eagle DeMarco Murray had 253 for the Cowboys in 2011.
7. Unstoppable after halftime: Barkley ran 13 times for 182 yards – a 14.0 average – with the two long TDs in the second half. Only six other players in Eagles history have ever run for 182 yards … in an entire game. The most previous yards by an Eagles running back in a second half was LeSean McCoy’s 166 against the Lions in 2013, when he had 40- and 57-yard touchdown runs in the fourth quarter on the way to the franchise-record 217 yards that Barkley shattered Sunday.
8. A Pro Bowl season in the second half: Barkley is the 5th-leading rusher in the NFL this year before halftime with 472 yards, a 4.4 average and three touchdowns. In the second half? Barkley has 920 rushing yards, a 7.9 average and seven touchdowns. Only Derrick Henry (745) has HALF as many 2nd-half rushing yards as Barkley. Chuba Hubbard has the 3rd-most with 455. Henry (1,185) and Josh Jacobs (944) are the only running backs with more total yards this year than Barkley has in the second half. Barkley has 16 runs of at least 15 yards this year and 14 of them have been in the second half. There have been 18 runs of at least 55 yards in the second half this year league-wide, and Barkley has FIVE of them. Barkley is on pace for 1,422 rushing yards, 1,635 scrimmage yards, 11 touchdowns and a 7.9 average … after halftime. If he didn't play until after halftime, he'd still be a Pro Bowler. Incredible.
9. Huge game after huge game: Barkley already has five games so far this year with at least 145 rushing yards. Only seven players in NFL history have had more in a season – Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson, Terrell Davis, Adrian Peterson, Jim Brown, O.J. Simpson and Barry Sanders. All Hall of Famers or will be. Nobody has ever had more 145-yard games through 11 games than Barkley. He’s also had four games already with at least 185 scrimmage yards. With six games left, only nine players have had more. Only Jim Brown in 1963 and Walter Payton in 1977 have had more through 11 games. In Eagles history only Brian Westbrook (six) and Timmy Brown (five) have had more career games with 185 scrimmage yards than Barkley has had in 11 games. Barkley now has as many 185-yard scrimmage games in 11 games as an Eagle (four) as he had in six years with the Giants.
10. Chasing the all-timers: Barkley is on pace for 2,151 rushing yards, 2,548 scrimmage yards and 18 touchdowns. The NFL single-season rushing record is 2,105 by Eric Dickerson in 16 games with the Rams in 1984. Barkley needs 713 rushing yards in the Eagles’ last six games – that would be 118 per game – to break Dickerson’s record (in one extra game). Barkley’s average of 126.5 rushing yards per game would be 12th-highest in NFL history over a full season. Barkley is also on pace for 2,548 scrimmage yards, which would also be an NFL record. The current record is 2,509 set by Chris Johnson of the Titans in 16 games in 2009 (2006 rushing, 503 receiving). Barkley needs 861 scrimmage yards the final six weeks to break Johnson’s record. So he needs to average 144 yards per game to break that one. I wouldn’t bet against him.
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