Saquon Barkley hits 2K, zeroes in on Dickerson’s record as Eagles roll Cowboys

Late in the third quarter of the Eagles’ 41-7 win over the Cowboys, A.J. Brown caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from third-string quarterback Tanner McKee. The veteran receiver promptly fired the memento – McKee’s first NFL touchdown pass – deep into the north bleachers at Lincoln Financial Field.

And after Big Dom DiSandro, Brown and a few Eagles ambassadors coordinated the safe exchange for McKee, Philadelphia went home with its second NFC East title in three years. The Eagles also rebounded from a bitter loss last week at Washington and, no offense to McKee, will now focus on returning their top two quarterbacks in time for the first round of the playoffs.

Saquon Barkley will now focus on Eric Dickerson. The Philadelphia running back in Sunday’s win became only the ninth player in NFL history to reach 2,000 rushing yards in a season. With 2,005 on the year, Barkley needs only 101 more to break Dickerson’s all-time single-season record, 2,105 in 1984, next week against – as fate would have it – the team that chose not to re-sign him.

The most intriguing question of the week becomes whether the Eagles (13-3), now guaranteed the No. 2 seed in the NFC regardless of the outcome of any Week 18 games, will allow Barkley to play for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at Dickerson’s record next week.

More concerning for Philadelphia is the health of starting quarterback Jalen Hurts, who sat out Sunday and most of last week’s loss with a concussion. Hurts is in the NFL’s concussion protocol and may wind up resting again next week against the Giants, especially because the game is meaningless with regard to playoff seeding. Backup Kenny Pickett, who started with broken ribs in Hurts’ place on Sunday, needed two pain-killing injections to play before leaving late in Philadelphia’s first drive of the second half.

McKee made his NFL debut and took the Eagles the rest of the way, finishing 3 of 4 for 54 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. McKee provided a heavy dose of handoffs to Barkley, who piled up 167 yards on 31 carries.

Philadelphia’s defense got a pair of interceptions from C.J. Gardner-Johnson, including a 69-yard touchdown return in the first quarter to put the Eagles on the board. The veteran, who missed much of the second half last week after officials ejected him for a pair of unsportsmanlike penalties, matched his single-game career high with two interceptions; he also had two in a 26-17 Eagles win over Dallas on Oct. 16, 2022. Including Gardner-Johnson’s return, the Eagles cashed in four Dallas turnovers for 24 points.

Philadelphia’s NFC East crown marked the 20^th straight season in which a different team has finished first in the division, extending an NFL record. The last time the division had a repeat champion was 2001-04, when the Eagles captured three straight. Dallas won the title last season.

This marks the fourth time in franchise history the Eagles have won at least 13 games. Philadelphia advanced to the Super Bowl in each of the previous instances: 1980, 2004 and 2022.

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