Eagles running back Saquon Barkley has become the ninth NFL player in history to rush 2,000 yards in the regular season. While our second-string players managed to clinch the win over the Giants last week, many still believe that Nick Sirianni’s choice to rest Barkley instead of allowing him to break the regular season rushing record was the wrong one. Yet, with the playoffs approaching this Sunday, resting Saquon may very well be the best decision for the team.
The record is currently held by former Rams running back, Eric Dickerson, who rushed 2,105 yards in 1984. Ending his regular season with 2,005 rushing yards, Barkley was just 101 yards shy of surpassing Dickerson. For this reason, many fans were upset that Barkley didn’t play in the last game, believing he could have beaten the record 40 years after it was set. Yet that is a flawed way of thinking.
If Barkley had been allowed to play against the Giants, it would have meant that all of the Eagles’ top players would need to start as well. If the goal was truly to break the record, it only makes sense that Sirianni would have fielded the rest of the first-string lineup. However, with the regular season coming to its end, it was understandable that Sirianni would be cautious. Injuries to key players at this stage could have had serious repercussions for the team’s playoff chances; especially since the Giants would have known to target Barkley and prohibit him from getting the ball.
Besides, the Eagles have seen this play out before. In fact, just last season, Eagles wide-receiver A.J. Brown was injured in the last game of the regular season. He was left on the bench for the wild card playoff game in which the Tampa Bay Buccaneers clutched the win and the Eagles lost all hope of winning the Lombardi Trophy.
This doesn’t mean that the Eagles would have won if Brown wasn’t injured, but the point is, that the Eagles were not able to utilize all of their best strengths because one of their star players was injured in a meaningless game. This was most likely a great factor in Sirianni’s consideration; he simply did not want a repeat of last season.
The logistics of the record itself is also complicated. If the argument is on a game basis, O.J. Simpson has the highest rushing yards since he obtained them in only fourteen games. Whereas, Dickerson broke the record in fifteen games after the NFL expanded the regular season schedule.
Additionally, if the argument is on a carry basis, Dickerson achieved 2,105 yards in 379 carries with a 5.55 yards per carry. Whereas Barkley achieved 2,005 yards in only 345 carries with a 5.8 yards per carry. This means that Dickerson had 34 more carries than Barkley in order to reach a record of just 100 more yards. Statistically speaking, Barkley has more yards per carry which means he most likely would have passed Dickerson anyway.
This just means that it is not about skill. The fans should not need evidence of a record broken to believe in Barkley’s ability to surpass Eric Dickerson. While it would have been nice, we need to put our pride aside and focus on what is most important: our team’s prospects in the playoffs.
Saquon has stated on multiple occasions that he joined the Eagles with the sole purpose of winning the Super Bowl. That is his number one goal. Not getting the title of “Most Rushing Yards” but getting the title of “World Champions”. He wants to create something special with his team, not glory for himself only.
I do believe, however, that in resting Barkley, Sirianni has put a lot more pressure on the Eagles to go all the way in the playoffs. If the Eagles don’t win, then there will be a lot of criticism for not allowing Barkley to break the record. Yet, that is all a bunch of ifs. Every fan should have the utmost faith that the Eagles can and will win it all.
At the end of the day, a coach’s responsibility is to do what’s best for the team. This goes beyond individual achievements like Barkley’s record. While many hoped Saquon would make history with his rushing milestone, the bigger story will be whether the Eagles can make even greater history by winning the Super Bowl.
