Saquon Barkley sets Eagles season-rushing record against Panthers

HILADELPHIA (AP) — Saquon Barkley set the Philadelphia Eagles’ single-season rushing record on a 9-yard run in the fourth quarter against Carolina on Sunday.

Barkley needed 13 games to break LeSean McCoy’s record of 1,607 yards set in 2013. Barkley, in his first season with the Eagles, entered the game third on the season list and also passed Wilbert Montgomery and his 1,512 yards in 1978.

Needing 109 yards to set the mark, Barkley heard “MVP! MVP!” chants after a 9-yard run late in the fourth quarter and the Eagles up 22-16 that gave him the record.

Barkley also maintained his pace to break Eric Dickerson’s NFL single-season rushing mark of 2,105 yards, set in 1984 with the Los Angeles Rams.

Barkley entered Sunday with an NFL-best 1,499 yards rushing through 12 games, an average of 124.9 yards per game. At that pace and with one more game to play than Dickerson, he would become the top single-season rusher in NFL history.

Barkley left the New York Giants in the offseason and signed a three-year free-agent deal worth $26 million guaranteed to join the Eagles, who made him the highest-paid running back in franchise history.

The 27-year-old Barkley has been worth the contract.

Barkley has 3-1 odds to win AP NFL Most Valuable Player honors, per BetMGM Sportsbook. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is the only player with better MVP odds.

Barkley was expected to set the mark against the Panthers, who entered Week 14 ranked 32nd in the league against the run and last week allowed Tampa Bay’s Bucky Irving to run for a career-high 152 yards.

Barkley needed 606 yards over the final five games to top Dickerson’s 40-year-old record.

Barkley has a franchise-record nine 100-yard rushing games in a season. Entering Sunday, he also led the league with four rushing touchdowns of 25-plus yards this season.

Barkley, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 draft by the Giants, was allowed to leave the team in free agency.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, who had been unwilling to spend on elite running backs, pounced on Barkley and the decision was celebrated as a success in Philly from the first game of the season.

Barkley rushed for two scores and caught a TD pass in the opener against Green Bay, his three touchdowns the most by an Eagles player in his debut since Terrell Owens in 2004.

Barkley only soared in production and popularity from there, his highlight reel stamped by a reverse leap over the head of a Jacksonville defender last month.

He’s since vaulted over every running back ahead of him on the Eagles rushing list — and has a chance at NFL history.