PHILADELPHIA -- It was another dominant day for Saquon Barkley and the running game.
The Eagles compiled 211 yards on the ground during their 22-16 win over the Carolina Panthers, marking the fifth time this season they've surpassed the 200-yard mark. Barkley, as usual, accounted for the majority of them, running for 124 yards on 20 carries, right on his 6.1-yard average for the season.
"We had a good day on the ground," the running back said. "A sneaky day. It wasn't sexy, but it got the job done."
With four regular-season games remaining in his first season with the Eagles, Barkley broke the 11-year-old single-season rushing record previously held by LeSean McCoy. He has 1,623 yards for the season and surpassed McCoy's 2013 total of 1,607 with a 9-yard run with 7:56 left in the game. He also broke Wilbert Montgomery's team record for most 100 yard games in a season with his ninth in 13 games. Montgomery had eight in 1981.
A message went up on the scoreboard after Barkley's record-setting run and play continued with the fans at Lincoln Financial Field chanting, "MVP, MVP," something he had heard from Eagles' fans on the road in the previous two games against the Los Angeles Rams and Baltimore Ravens.
"Yeah, I think it's pretty cool," Barkley said. "The most important thing was getting the win and we got the win. Being a fan of Shady's growing up and seeing the spectacular things that he was able to do with the ball in his hand and having my name mentioned with him definitely means a lot. You got to give credit to the guys up front, they made my job a lot easier, so I appreciate it."
Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson was part of the offensive line when McCoy broke the single-season record in 2013 and was also part of this record.
"Hell, yeah," Johnson said when asked if that's a cool accomplishment for an offensive lineman. "There's nothing to look forward to as a lineman, so when those guys make touchdowns and first downs I'm living through them. So, hell yeah, it makes me happy."
McCoy acknowledged Barkley's record with a post on X that read: "Big s/o to my boy @saquon on breaking my franchise single season rushing record. Let's go get that Dickerson record see yall in the N O super bow bound @Eagles."
The Dickerson record of 2,105 yards in a season is 40 years old and belongs to former Rams running back Eric Dickerson. Barkley is on pace for 2,122 yards with four games remaining. He's also on pace to break McCoy's single-season franchise record of 2,146 yards from scrimmage.
Barkley said he doesn't fixate on records, but he is aware of them and enjoys breaking them.
"I saw A Football Life on (Cowboys Hall of Famer) Emmitt (Smith) the other day and he used to write goals down because he'd say it's a dream to write things down and it becomes a goal," Barkley said. "I never wrote a goal down to break it, but you're always aware of it and that's how I train. That's how I treat the offseason and camp because I want to be great."
Great is exactly what Barkley has been throughout his first season with the Eagles. And because he has been great the Eagles could be on the brink of accomplishing something special. Their ninth straight win tied a franchise shared now by four different Eagles' teams. Two of those teams (1960 and 2017) won championships.
After experiencing just one winning season during his six years with the Giants, Barkley's primary focus right now is to win a championship. If the single-season rushing record is part of the deal, that's fine. If not, that's fine, too.
"I saw something about (Dickerson) saying to me and (Baltimore's) Derrick (Henry) to go get it," Barkley said. "Obviously that would be extremely cool to do, but at the end of the day if it happens it happens. But it's about whatever it takes to win football games. If that's in the way, then that's in the way. If it's not, it doesn't matter to me. I want to win football games and do something special for the city and I think we all know what that is."
One of the big questions about the Eagles is whether they can win the Super Bowl as a team that relies more on the run than the pass. Quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for just 108 yards in Sunday's win and when you add in the Panthers' four sacks that accounted for minus-25 yards, the Eagles' net passing yard total was just 83.
"I know the theme of this week is probably going to be caught up in our passing-game numbers and stuff like that, but the main thing is winning football games and however we got to do it is how we got to do it," Barkley said. "Whether we're running the football -- and obviously we've showed we can do that -- but this team was very successful before I came here, too.
"Jalen Hurts was an MVP candidate before I came here. And A.J. Brown was A.J. Brown and the list goes on and on. We're good at running the football. You got to stop it and when it's time and we need to pass the ball and sometimes there is going to be a game we need to pass the ball, we're more than willing and capable of making that happen."
For now, however, and for most of this season, the offense has run through Saquon Barkley. That's why he is the franchise's single-season record holder for rushing yards. And it's why he is an MVP candidate. Is it enough to carry the Eagles to a Super Bowl? We'll find out in the next couple months.