Barkley makes franchise history while continuing to cement MVP case. Saquon Barkley moved past LeSean ’Shady’ McCoy on Sunday afternoon and now owns the Philadelphia Eagles’ franchise record for single-season rushing yards. And he did it in only 13 games.
Coming into the Week 14 battle, Barkley needed 109 rushing yards to break Shady’s record and he accomplished the feat during winning time, in the fourth quarter, against the up-and-coming Caroline Panthers, who have found new life over the last few weeks. The Eagles won their ninth straight game, 22-16 over the Panthers on Sunday.
Quarterback Bryce Young methodically moved the Panthers onto the Eagles side of the field on the final drive. He completed a 13-yard pass on fourth down that moved the rock to the 38-yardline, and a second-down pass to Xavier Legette gave the Eagles just a moment of panic when the receiver appeared to have caught the ball in the end zone.
He did not. Young was able to use his athleticism and avoid the oncoming pass rush on fourth down but his final attempt was incomplete. He completed 19 of 34 passes for 191 yards.
Barkley understood the magnitude of the moment and knew he was approaching the record.
“I’m well aware of it,” Barkley said this week. “That’s something once I got here, I looked up the history of the Eagles running backs. I wasn’t familiar with Wilbert Montgomery. I wasn’t familiar with him so I even got to do a dive on him and got to learn about him and (Brian) Westbrook and Shady. That’s your goal. You want to come in here and leave a legacy on a place, on a franchise.
“I had the same mindset when I was in New York. Sadly, that came up short. I’m aware of that but that’s not like a driving factor of it. The driving factor is to win football games and put ourselves in position to make a run and go win it all. I am aware of the things I can accomplish. But the way I accomplish that is by sticking to the script.”
Embed from Getty Images• Saquon Barkley in 2024: 1,615 yards and counting
• LeSean McCoy in 2013: 1,607
• Wilbert Montgomery in 1979: 1,512
Barkley, 27-years-old, has now gone over the 100-yard mark in an impressive 9 of 13 games this season and has done it in four consecutive contests.
Earlier this week, McCoy, a native of Philadelphia who is now a host on Fox Sports 1, The Facility, told NBC Sports Philadelphia that he was rooting for Barkley to break his record.
“Yeah, man, records are meant to be broken,” McCoy said to NBC Sports Philadelphia this week. “And it’s a tribute to the respect we have for each other. I love competitors, man. I love what he’s doing for my team.
“The cool thing is when he broke my single-game rushing record, I was in the building, I was with Mr. Jeffrey Lurie watching the game. That was kind of cool. If you seen the mic’d up, he said, ‘We broke the record, we broke Shady’s record.’ We’re competing. I love people that push the position forward so I’m all for it.”
The Panthers host Micah Parsons and the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday.
The Eagles continue their homestand against Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday.
