They’re not just the two best running backs in the NFL this year. They are two of the best ever.

And they will be on the same field on Sunday. And it will be great.

In NFL history, only three running backs have had 1,300 rushing yards, 10 rushing touchdowns and a 6.0 rushing average after 12 games.

Two of them will be at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday. The other is Jim Brown.

In 12 games in 1963, Brown had 1,677 rushing yards – that’s an absurd 140 per game – with a 6.7 average and 12 touchdowns. Derrick Henry has 1,392 rushing yards, a 6.0 average and 13 touchdowns after 12 games, and Saquon Barkley, who hasn’t even played his 12 yet^Th game yet, but still has 1,392 rushing yards, a 6.2 average and 10 touchdowns.

It’s been more than half a century since a running back made such a start, and this year two did, both in their first year with a new team, both later in their careers, both with teams with legitimate aspirations cherish the Super Bowl.

And both will face each other on Sunday in Baltimore.

Henry and Barkley won’t be on the field at the same time, but the Eagles-Ravens game will be a showcase of two running backs chasing multiple NFL records, pushing themselves into the MVP conversation and carrying their teams.

Eric Dickerson of the Rams set the NFL single-season rushing record with 2,105 yards in a 16-game season in 1984.

Barkley has a pace of 2,150 yards in 17 games and Henry has a pace of 1,877, 13^Th-most of all time.

AJ Brown has played with both Barkley and Henry. He and Henry were Titans teammates from 2019 to 2021, and Henry led the NFL in rushing in both 2019 and 2020, totaling 3,567 yards and 33 touchdowns with a 5.2 average.

Brown was interviewed by longtime Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty of NBC’s Football Night in America before the Eagles-Rams game and asked which teammate was the best running back in football.

“I think (Barkley) is the best in the world, and I love Derrick, I love Derrick, but I think he’s the best in the world,” Brown said.

“I’ll tell you this: I literally told Nick (Sirianni) probably a couple weeks ago and said, ‘Right now I still think Derrick is probably the best running back I’ve ever played with. And then he jumps backwards over someone. And I thought, “Yeah, I had to rethink it.”

“I mean, he’s amazing, man. He is definitely touched by God. He works hard. And I had to nod to him. Both are really good. I can barely wait for it. …There will be a show next week. I just want to see it.”

You could make a case for one of these running backs as an NFL Comeback Player of the Year as well as an MVP candidate.

Henry and Barkley both averaged a modest 68 yards per game last year, 4.2 yards per carry for Henry and 3.9 for Barkley. Considering they were both veterans – Barkley was entering his ninth season, Barkley his seventh – it was easy to assume that both were on the decline.

Both signed with new teams and were rejuvenated. Henry is averaging 42 more yards and 1.8 more yards per carry than last year and Barkley is averaging 58 more yards per game and 2.3 more yards per carry than last year.

“Both great football players,” Nick Sirianni said. “Much respect for Derrick Henry. Big, strong, fast, difficult to handle. It is as advertised when you see it in person. And obviously we all see it, you all see it, the piece speaks for itself.

“We have to be good with our fundamentals. You have to take the right positions in defense. You have to tackle it well. You have to get out of the blockages well. You have to work tirelessly for football and that’s all we pride ourselves on in defensive football and playing good football.

“He’s able to hit a home run and make you pay when everyone doesn’t agree, when you’re not attacking well, when you’re not getting off the blocks well, when you’re not putting effort on the football.

“That part reminds you of Saquon because it’s similar. With Saquon, he can hit a home run when the team isn’t tackling well, or isn’t getting out of blocks well, or isn’t focused on the football, or isn’t all on the same page. It’s similar for both.”

Henry’s career rushing average of 4.8 is 5^Th-Highest in history, Barkley’s average of 4.6 (up from 4.3 before the season) is 11^Th-preferably.

Two of the all-time greats coming together in prime time on national television for a fascinating meeting of Super Bowl contenders

“Those are two great running backs,” Lamar Jackson said. “I knew Saquon from high school. We were in the All-Star Game together. He jumped over someone’s head, so I saw him before I even got into the league (or college).

“With Derrick Henry – King Henry – I’m with him every day and see what he’s capable of, so it’s going to be a great matchup.”

There have been 24 scrimmage runs of at least 50 yards in the NFL this year, and Barkley (five) and Henry (three) account for a third of them. Henry has the two longest runs in the league this year – 87 yards against the Bills, 81 against the Bucs – and Barkley has four of the next 10.

Neither team has allowed a 100-yard rusher this year. In fact, the Ravens haven’t allowed a back to rush for more than 63 yards this year.

“We’re just going to have a tough time and a challenge trying to stop this running back that we play,” said Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who spent the 2008-07 season with the Eagles. “And we hope they have a hard time stopping our running back.”

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