Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni’s announcement that running back Saquon Barkley, after joining the 2,000-yard rushers club, would be among the starters resting in Week 18 against the New York Giants created controversy. Barkley was only 101 yards short of breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record. Still, the Eagles prioritized resting their starters heading into the postseason after not having a bye week since Week 5. Fans, analysts, and former players have debated whether the Eagles made the right decision.
Barkley is not the first running back in position to chase Eric Dickerson’s record while his team is also preparing for the playoffs. There have been three 2,000-yard rushers this century: Derrick Henry, Adrian Peterson, and Jamal Lewis. How did their teams decide to use them in the last game of the regular season, and how did they fair in their subsequent playoff games?
Did the Last Three 2,000-yard Rushers Find Playoff Success?
Derrick Henry 2020
Before Barkley, the last running back to rush for 2,000 yards was Derrick Henry in the 2020 season. Henry was the second of the 2,000-yard rushers for the Tennessee Titans this century after Chris Johnson completed the feat in 2009. Johnson’s team missed the playoffs. The 2020 Titans were still fighting to win the AFC South in Week 17, so they had to play their starters in the last game of the season. Henry put the team on his back that day, rushing 34 times for 250 yards and two touchdowns en route to a 41-38 win against the Houston Texans.
Henry finished the regular season with 378 carries for 2,027 yards. The toll of 34 carries the previous week wore on Henry in his Wild Card playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens. Henry finished the game with 18 carries for 40 yards on the way to a 20-13 loss and a first-round exit.
Adrian Peterson 2012
Adrian Peterson came the closest of any other player to breaking Eric Dickerson’s record. Peterson, the 2012 MVP, finished his regular season with 348 carries for 2,097 yards, falling just nine yards short of Dickerson’s record.
Heading into Week 17, the Minnesota Vikings were still fighting for a playoff spot, so their starters needed to play. In that game against the Green Bay Packers, Peterson carried the ball 34 times for 199 yards and a touchdown to help lead the Vikings to a 37-34 victory. As the sixth seed, the Vikings faced the Packers again the next week in the Wild Card game, losing 24-10 to the Packers. Peterson had a respectable but below-season-average day, with 22 carries for 99 yards and no touchdowns.
Jamal Lewis 2003
Jamal Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens was the first 2,000-yard rusher of the new millennium, finishing the regular season with 387 carries for 2,066 yards.
The Ravens entered Week 17 with the AFC North wrapped up and locked into the fourth seed in the conference. The game was a divisional match-up against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the Steelers were already eliminated from the playoffs. However, Lewis still had his usual workload in the game, carrying the ball 27 times for 114 yards and a touchdown. Lewis would find much less success the following week in the team’s Wild Card playoff match-up against the Titans. The Titans held Lewis to just 35 yards and no touchdowns on their way to a 20-17 victory.
Every 2,000-yard rusher since 2000 to make the playoffs has been a first-round exit, with each running back falling below their season totals in rushing. In the cases of Henry and Lewis, they were way below their season totals in one-score defeats where they could have been the difference for their teams.
Is There Playoff Success After 2,000 Yards?
The last 2,000-yard running back with playoff success was Terrell Davis in his 1998 MVP season. In the regular season, Davis had 392 carries for 2,008 yards and 21 touchdowns. The difference between Davis and the other three running backs mentioned is that his team, the Denver Broncos, had a first-round bye between the regular season and the playoffs. The Broncos would go on to win the Super Bowl that year, and Davis was a major contributor in the playoffs with rushing performances of 199, 167, and 102 yards.
The bye week allowed Davis to have fresh legs going into the playoffs and the ability to perform at his best. Saquon Barkley will enter the playoffs with 345 carries, the third-lowest carry total for a 2,000-yard rusher, and a week of rest. The Eagles are hoping their strategy of rest over records will lead to history repeating itself, and just like the Davis and the Broncos, they’ll be the ones hoisting the Lombardi trophy at the end of the season.
Main Photo: Katie Stratman – USA Today Sports
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