As the Philadelphia Eagles prepared to take the ball in the fourth quarter, the offensive linemen were buzzing.

“We have 48 more yards,” left guard Landon Dickerson said to left tackle Jordan Mailata.

The Eagles led the Dallas Cowboys with 27 points. Forty-eight meters left, Mailata asked.

“To 2K, you big dumbass,” Mailata recalled Dickerson responding.

Running back Saquon Barkley was on pace to become the ninth player in NFL history to record more than 2,000 rushing yards in a season.

Barkley heard the talk when right tackle Lane Johnson told his linemen, “This mother-f’er needs this to get it” and “Let’s get it,” Barkley said.

Philadelphia then turned the ball over to its big 2024 offseason signing, who played six straight games.

He ripped off six yards, then 11, then three, then nine. And then Barkley surpassed 2,000 rushing yards this season with a 23-yard strike down the left sideline, reaching 2,005.

Head coach Nick Sirianni called a timeout to remove Barkley from the game. The Eagles celebrated.

“I’m not going to lie, just because I’m a fan of the game and the running back position, it definitely means reaching a milestone and putting myself up there with eight other backs that I respect, and some of I watched them a lot as a kid,” Barkley said after the 41-7 win. “You can’t be great without the greatness of others, and I’m just glad I was able to be part of the team and achieve such a milestone.”

When the Eagles won the NFC East on Sunday, Barkley’s individual goals and the Eagles’ team goals largely aligned. Philadelphia needed this win, its 13th of the season, to secure a home playoff game. Barkley’s performance – which included 137 yards after halftime – helped secure the decision.

But as Philadelphia looks toward the regular-season finale, the team’s next goals pose a dilemma. Another, even more historic record is within reach. And yet: What happens if Barkley gets hurt because he’s running behind in a game that has no bearing on the Eagles’ playoff position? When the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night, the Eagles secured the No. 2 seed in the NFC. Next week will have no bearing on their postseason status.

Sirianni must make a decision as he weighs risks and rewards. He did it on Sunday afternoon.

“We’re always going to do what’s best for these guys, and that might mean playing them, that might mean giving them a break,” Sirianni said before the Vikings’ win changed the equation. “I have to think about that. However, I’m looking forward to going out on the field afterwards and playing catch with my kids.

“And then I’ll think about it later.”

Will Barkley get a chance to break Eric Dickerson’s 40-year-old record?

In 1984, Los Angeles Rams running back Eric Dickerson set the single-season rushing record with 2,105 yards.

Forty years later, no one has passed him.

With 101 yards next week, Barkley would reach 2,106 yards, breaking the long-time pace car. Even more poetic would be that he would do this against the team that drafted him and then let him enter free agency nine months ago. In the first meeting between the Eagles and Giants this year, Barkley rushed for 176 yards on just 17 carries.

Breaking Dickerson’s record lures the second overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He also understands that further pursuit could jeopardize Philadelphia’s postseason goals.

“The way I see it, if it’s in God’s plan, it is,” Barkley said. “I don’t try too hard to get it. I’m not afraid of it. I would like to. But ultimately we have bigger things to focus on.

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

Barkley is the youngest running back, but not the first, to have a real chance of overtaking Dickerson in the final week of the regular season.

Adrian Peterson rushed for 2,097 yards with the Minnesota Vikings in 2012, but his 199 yards in the regular-season finale helped the Vikings earn a wild-card berth.

Jamal Lewis played the entire 2003 regular season finale, even though the Baltimore Ravens won the AFC North earlier that day. His 114 yards put him in the 2,000-yard club with 2,066, but not the single-season record.

The closest rusher of the last decade was Derrick Henry in 2020 when he rushed for 2,027 yards for the Tennessee Titans. Henry racked up a whopping 250 of them in the regular-season finale win that clinched the AFC South title for the Titans. He didn’t reach Dickerson.

So Sirianni’s most recent parallel, which he should take into account in his decision, dates back more than two decades. His decision to keep Barkley long enough to reach 2,000 yards on Sunday may no longer indicate his tolerance level for the individual record.

“I will do what I think is necessary and best to get the team into this position, but I am also very sensitive to records and everything that happens there,” Sirianni said. “So, we’ll see how it goes.”

The Eagles locker room was divided.

To play or not to play? That’s the Eagles’ Barkley question

Barkley’s right tackle understands how rare it is to play with the rushing champion.

When Johnson blocked for the defending 2013 champions his rookie year, he thought such greatness was par for the course.

Then more than a decade passed before he was able to recapture that achievement. Also of note: LeSean McCoy led the league with 1,607 rushing yards this season. He was almost 500 meters from the history books.

That’s why Johnson celebrated Barkley crossing the 2,000-yard mark as “special.” However, that didn’t change his mind about Barkley playing a meaningless playoff game to catch Dickerson.

“I mean, Eric Dickerson’s record was 16 games. So if it was 17 games, that wouldn’t make any sense anyway,” Johnson said. “Eric Dickerson is who he is. Saquon is who he is. We just wanted to reach 2,000. We agreed to that.

“It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Barkley disputed the asterisk with even broader historical context, noting that while he played a 17th game in the regular season, something his record-setting predecessors had not done – he was also not the first to benefit from a schedule expansion.

Of the eight previous 2,000-yard rushers, seven played in 16 games. OJ Simpson rushed for 2,003 yards in 1973 with just 14 on his list. Dickerson surpassed the 2,000-yard threshold in his 15th game and scored 2,105 in his 16th attempt after 98 more attempts.

“I know we don’t really talk about that, but the reality is (Simpson) scored 2,000 points in 14 games, (Dickerson) needed 15,” Barkley said. “So if anything, the question is: Why are we even having the conversation? Or if you’re trying to get to (Dickerson’s) record, if that’s the conversation, it should be, “You have to do it in 14.”

“The way football is right now, it’s pretty difficult to get 2,000 yards in 14 games. Whether it’s 16, whether it’s 17, it’s an accomplishment that you can never take away from what I did with the O-line. And only eight other players did it, so it’s a special moment.”

Teammates agreed. Receiver AJ Brown told Barkley to “get it done, but play it safe” as he returned to the field to cross the plateau against the Cowboys, and Brown was also eager to get involved in updating the history books .

“When I talk to my kids, I’d like to say, ‘Oh, I was on Saquon’s team when he did that,'” Brown said. “I want to be a part of it.”

Cornerback Darius Slay said he had “never seen anyone reach 2,000 yards” and believed Barkley could have passed Dickerson on Sunday if he had played the rest of the fourth quarter.

When the Los Angeles Times asked last week if he wanted Barkley to break his record, Dickerson replied “absolutely not,” adding, “I don’t think he’s going to break it.”

This also motivated Slay to encourage Barkley.

“Obviously we need it a lot bigger than the record,” Slay said. “But I would love for him to have the record, especially after what Dickerson said — that wasn’t cool.”

Barkley said he didn’t view the comments as “shaming” or “shading” because, “You shouldn’t want me to break your record.”

The bigger question will be how much Sirianni views the risk and reward as the Eagles hope to return to the Super Bowl two years after their last appearance and win it seven years after their last title.

Barkley understands how difficult this postseason journey is, having played for a Giants team that won fewer than seven games in five of his six years. In six years he only appeared in two playoff games and won one. Barkley didn’t learn until Sunday that division champions would receive hats and T-shirts to celebrate. He also wants to learn how to celebrate a Super Bowl championship.

His best career season stands regardless of his finals appearance.

“I came here to do something special and of course breaking the record is special,” Barkley said. “But I want a banner up there. I think we all do. But we gave ourselves a chance and won the playoffs before and now with the division.

“Now it’s up to Nick and we’ll see how he thinks.”