Eagles RB Saquon Barkley delivered 167 yards on 31 carries in Sunday's beatdown of the Cowboys, getting him to 2,005 rushing yards for the season. That puts Barkley just 101 yards short of breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season NFL record. The question now, of course, is whether Philly will Barkley enough Week 18 carries to go after that record -- or any carries at all. The Eagles have already locked up the NFC's No. 2 seed and thus have nothing (team wise) to play for in the regular-season finale.
HC Nick Sirianni after Sunday's game: “We'll do what we need to do, what's right for the football team. Always got to do what's right for the football team to reach our goals of what we need to do. Like I said, I've got a lot to think about. I'm going to enjoy this, and I'll think about it tonight at some point.”
Sirianni also had this to say about Barkley reaching 2,000 yards during the game: “I know the guys were excited when that happened. Yeah, it's just a cool thing to be a part of. Any time you can be a part of something special, that's what's cool about being part of a team.”
From a team standpoint, sitting Barkley entirely for Week 18 would obviously make the most sense. The offense is clearly better with Barkley in the lineup than it would be with Kenneth Gainwell and Will Shipley.
But it's also worth remembering that pro sports exist for entertainment -- and that the individuals involved care about records and legacy.
Barkley had just 13 carries for 40 yards at halftime of Sunday's win over Dallas. Even though his team already led 24-7 at that point, and the Cowboys never scored again, Barkley still logged another 18 carries in the second half.
His last carry came on Philly's penultimate possession, in the fourth quarter -- with his team up 34-7.
You could easily argue that it would have been best for the team to pull Barkley at halftime.
We'll see what Sirianni decides to do in Week 18. Let's just hope we learn the plan ahead of time, for fantasy purposes.
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