Enter Saquon Barkley in the NFL history books.

The Philadelphia Eagles running back on Sunday became the ninth running back in NFL history to reach 2,000 rushing yards in a single season. He reached the milestone in the fourth quarter against the Dallas Cowboys.

A 23-yard run to the Dallas 23 gave him 167 yards for the game and 2,003 for the season. It set up an Eagles touchdown and extended Philadelphia’s lead to 41-7.

He remained on the bench for Philadelphia’s next possession, his day seemingly over as the Eagles held a big lead en route to winning the NFC East title.

Barkley has had sensational seasons before. But in his six previous NFL seasons with the New York Giants, he never reached the heights of his debut season with the Eagles.

Barkley’s career-best rushing total was 1,312 yards in 2022. He averaged 4.4 yards per carry and 82 rushing yards per game this season. As a rookie in 2018, he averaged five yards per carry and 81.7 yards per game en route to 1,307 yards on the ground.

Barkley also experienced some struggles playing behind weak offensive lines on a Giants team that has been among the worst in the league since he’s been in the NFL. He averaged less than four yards per carry twice (3.7 in 2021 and 3.9 in 2023), leading to speculation that he had lost the explosiveness that made him one of the game’s best playmakers early in his career NFL had made.

But a season playing behind Philadelphia’s strong offensive line proved his doubters wrong. The combination has now produced one of the greatest rushing seasons in NFL history. And Barkley remains in sight of the league’s single-season rushing record with a week left in the regular season.

Eric Dickerson holds this record with 2,105 receiving yards for the Los Angeles Rams in 1984. Dickerson accomplished this feat in a 16-game season. Barkley will finish Sunday behind Dickerson by 102 yards.

It’s not clear if Barkley will play in Week 18. The Eagles could end up resting key starters with their playoff spot already secured. But if he can do it, he has a chance to overtake Dickerson in his 17th game of the season.