This has been the season of Saquon — Saquon Barkley, to be specific.
The Philadelphia Eagles running back and AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year rushed for over 2,000 yards in the regular season, coming within 100 yards of Eric Dickerson’s single-season record.
Tonight, Barkley has another shot at history: breaking the all-time Super Bowl rushing yards record in a single game.
That record belongs to Timmy Smith, who ran for 204 yards in Super Bowl XXII in 1988 while playing for the team now known as the Washington Commanders. So, can Barkley top that mark in Super Bowl LIX?
Putting Barkley’s 2024-25 Regular Season in Perspective
Of course, Barkley benefitted from an extra regular-season game compared to Dickerson. But Dickerson, too, had an advantage. He played in a 16-game schedule, two games longer than the single-season yards-per-game record-holder, O.J. Simpson, who played in a 14-game schedule.
Still, Barkley’s achievements are nothing short of remarkable, including his standout performance in last month’s NFC Divisional Round game against the Los Angeles Rams. Neither the Rams nor a snowstorm could stop Barkley. He plowed and spun through the defense, earning the nickname “Snoquon.”
Can Saquon Break the Super Bowl Rushing Record?
The Caesars Superdome in New Orleans is an indoor stadium, so weather won’t be a factor tonight. But Barkley faces another challenge: the stakes. This is his first Super Bowl appearance.
Does he have a real shot at breaking the all-time Super Bowl rushing record?
He does have momentum on his side.
Barkley is averaging 147 rushing yards per game in the playoffs — well above his 125-yard regular-season average. He was in turbo mode during the first 18 weeks of the season, and now he’s kicked it up a notch to super-turbo mode.
The Turf Factor
Playing surfaces, of course, are always a factor when it comes to rushing.
The Superdome’s playing surface, Turf Nation S5, is a hybrid of artificial fibers and natural grass.
Barkley is accustomed to playing on turf — MetLife Stadium, his home field for the first six years of his career, uses it. He’s generally performed better on surfaces with more natural blends, but this season shows those distinctions don’t quite matter.
His new home, Lincoln Financial Field, uses a surface blend, Desso Grassmaster, that mixes natural grass with artificial fibers. But he performed better on the road, and his best regular performances were on artificial surfaces — against the Rams at So-Fi Stadium and the New York Giants at MetLife.
And Barkley played at tonight’s venue earlier this season. In Week 3, Barkley rushed for 147 yards against the Saints in the Superdome — and on just 17 carries.
While that was below his regular-season average of 21.6 carries per game, he averaged 8.6 yards per carry, his third-best mark of the year. With the same efficiency and more opportunities, he could certainly challenge or surpass the 204-yard record.
The Chiefs Are the X-Factor
In the end, the two factors that matter most are Barkley and his opponent. He’ll be playing the Kansas City Chiefs tonight — not the ground.
Interestingly, Barkley has never played against the Chiefs in his seven-year NFL career. His entire career has been in the NFC, mostly with the Giants, who only made the playoffs once during his tenure — and never came close to the Super Bowl.
On paper, the Eagles are the better team. And it’s teams that win football games. But individual performances can make all the difference. And the Super Bowl winner may be determined by whether Barkley comes up big tonight against a team he’s never faced before. Importantly, as a collective, they’ve never faced him either. And Barkley isn’t your run-of-the-mill running back.
Yet the Chiefs aren’t just a good team, they’re a dynasty. Winning championships is what they do. So for the Eagles to prevail, it may require Saquon to put up record numbers against Patrick Mahomes as he and the Chiefs chase their third-straight Super Bowl win.
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