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Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley became just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a single Season with a dominant winning performance against Dallas on Sunday.

The Eagles also secured the NFC East division crown with a 41-7 win over the rival Cowboys.

With starting quarterback Jalen Hurts absent in the league’s concussion protocol and backup Kenny Pickett leaving the game early with a rib injury, the Eagles relied heavily on their MVP candidate running back.

As he has been all season, Barkley was up to the task. The seventh-grader carried the ball 31 times for 167 yards, increasing his season total to 2,005 rushing yards.

Barkley reached the historic 2,000-yard plateau early in the fourth quarter with a 23-yard run. With the milestone reached and the game no longer in doubt, the Eagles decided to let the 27-year-old star enjoy the rest of the day on the sidelines.

“I can’t lie, it’s amazing. “It was fun,” Barkley told Fox about his performance after the game.

“But at the end of the day the most important thing was to get a win and win the division.”

Barkley also used his postgame interview with Fox to praise his Eagles teammates.

“Ultimately my name will be the one that comes through with 2,000, but like I said, it can’t happen without these guys,” Barkley said.

“They did all the work, I just followed them and they made me look a lot better.”

Barkley’s remarkable first year in an Eagles jersey has already placed him among the top NFL players of all time.

The list of 2,000-yard runners is small but includes the likes of OJ Simpson, Barry Sanders, Adrian Peterson and most recently Derrick Henry, who ran for 2,027 yards in 2020.

“Being a fan of the game and the running back position, reaching a milestone and putting myself up there with eight other defenders that I respect – some of whom I watched as a kid – definitely means a lot,” Barkley said after the game.

Barkley now needs just 101 yards in the Eagles’ season finale to break Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards set in 1984. Dickerson set the record in a 16-game season before the NFL expanded the regular season to 17 games in 2021.

Earlier this week, Dickerson told the Los Angeles Times that he didn’t want his 40-year-old record to fall and predicted that Barkley would come up short.

“Do I want him to break it? Absolutely not. I won’t compromise on that,” Dickerson said.

“But I’m not complaining about it. He had 17 games to do this? Hey, football is football. That’s how I see it. If he’s lucky enough to get over 2,000 yards and set the record, that’s a great record.”

Before Dickerson’s record year, the only player to surpass 2,000 yards in a season was Simpson, who managed an astonishing 2,003 yards in 1973, when the NFL season was just 14 games.

Ironically, Barkley’s chance at history will come against his former team, the New York Giants selected him with the second overall pick in the 2018 draft.

But with the NFC East secured and the postseason looming, the Eagles must make a difficult decision: rest Barkley to keep him healthy for the playoffs, or let him run for the record books?

Sirianni played it close to home after the game.

“We’ll see,” the fourth-year head coach said. “I always have to do the right thing for the football team to achieve our goals.”

Barkley gave some insight into his mindset during his postgame press conference

“To be honest, it’s up to (head coach) Nick (Sirianni),” Barkley said of the situation. “And whatever his decision is, I’m all for it.”

“I didn’t come here and sign here just to hit 2,000 or break a record,” Barkley said. “I want to do something special, that is, something special, with the team.”