(Editor’s note: This is excerpted from Mike Sando’s Pick Six of Jan. 6, 2025.)
5. The Philadelphia Eagles rested Saquon Barkley in Week 18, leaving him 100 yards short of Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record. That makes comparing them easier.
The date was Nov. 11, 1984, and Eric Dickerson was facing a Chicago Bears defense allowing 79 rushing yards per game and 3.4 per carry, both league-leading figures. Buddy Ryan was Chicago’s defensive coordinator. Dan Hampton and Leslie Frazier were injured, but this was still an elite Bears defense with Mike Singletary, Richard Dent, Steve McMichael, Otis Wilson and Gary Fencik in the lineup that day.
Dickerson, in his second season, rushed for 149 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 29-13 Rams victory.
Also that season, Dickerson had a 120-yard game against Lawrence Taylor’s New York Giants. He was the only 100-yard rusher against the Cleveland Browns, meaning Dickerson hit triple digits against formidable defenses coached by Buddy Ryan (Bears), Bill Belichick (Giants) and Marty Schottenheimer (Browns).
These were among the signature performances for Dickerson on his way to 2,105 yards, which broke the record O.J. Simpson set in 14 games and remains untouched with Barkley sitting out Sunday.
The LA Rams & Chicago Bears had some fierce battles in the 80s
The Rams prevailed here in 1984.
Dwayne Crutchfield (what a name) was the bruiser RB behind the great Eric Dickerson. He runs for 40 yards here and the should-be Hall Of Famer Henry Ellard makes a dazzling TD! pic.twitter.com/tXkbmKuxk9
— RAMS ON FILM (@RamsOnFilm) September 27, 2024
If you didn’t see Dickerson play, you might not realize the gifts he brought to the game. He stood 6-foot-3, weighed 230 pounds, clocked 4.4 seconds in the 40 and had what other great running backs — Simpson, Jim Brown — called elite vision. The 9.4-second time he ran to win Texas’ high school state title in the 100-yard dash converts to 10.28 over 100 meters. That’s the time Tyreek Hill ran to win the 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships.
Dickerson had more rushing yards than anyone through the first 16, 32, 48, 64, 80, 96, 112 and 128 games of a career. He slipped to second behind Barry Sanders through 144 games and retired after playing 146.
| Dickerson | Game # | Barkley |
|---|---|---|
|
1,808 (1) |
First 16 |
1,307 (27) |
|
3,913 (1) |
First 32 |
2,370 (45) |
|
5,418 (1) |
First 48 |
3,400 (52) |
|
7,207 (1) |
First 64 |
4,533 (52) |
|
8,886 (1) |
First 80 |
5,869 (45) |
|
10,396 (1) |
First 96 |
TBD |
|
11,612 (1) |
First 112 |
TBD |
|
12,525 (1) |
First 128 |
TBD |
|
13,255 (2) |
First 144 |
TBD |
Dickerson did these things in an era when top backs got more carries against defenses that sold out to stop the run, under rules allowing greater violence.
“He was hit so hard on every play, it almost sounded like they had turned up the microphones on the field,” Rams coach John Robinson said after the 1984 game against the Bears.
For Barkley to swerve into Dickerson territory even briefly is impressive.
Dickerson, like Barkley this season, played 16 games in 1984. Both backs ran behind talented, mostly veteran blockers led by acclaimed line coaches (Jeff Stoutland for the Eagles, Hudson Houck for the Rams). Dickerson’s interior linemen that season combined for 17 career Pro Bowls. Robinson was the perfect coach for him.
The table below shows how Dickerson and Barkley stack up in their signature seasons. It ranks their yardage totals from highest to lowest by opponent. The numbers in parenthesis show where each single-game total ranked against that particular opponent in that season. I’ve excluded 2024 Week 18 to keep the number of games equal.
Barkley vs. Dickerson: Rush yds rank vs. opponents
| 1984 Opp | Dickerson | Barkley | 2024 Opp |
|---|---|---|---|
|
HOU |
215 (1) |
255 (1) |
LAR |
|
STL |
208 (1) |
176 (1) |
NYG |
|
TB |
191 (1) |
167 (1) |
DAL |
|
NO |
175 (1) |
159 (1) |
JAX |
|
NO |
149 (2) |
150 (1) |
WAS |
|
CHI |
149 (4) |
147 (1) |
NO |
|
ATL |
145 (1) |
146 (2) |
WAS |
|
DAL |
138 (4) |
124 (5) |
CAR |
|
GB |
132 (3) |
109 (2) |
GB |
|
NYG |
120 (1) |
108 (3) |
CIN |
|
ATL |
107 (6) |
107 (1) |
BAL |
|
CLE |
102 (1) |
95 (2) |
ATL |
|
SF |
98 (4) |
84 (4) |
TB |
|
CIN |
89 (4) |
66 (11) |
DAL |
|
PIT |
49 (13) |
65 (7) |
PIT |
|
SF |
38 (15) |
47 (15) |
CLE |
Dickerson had seven games in which his yardage total was the most that a given opponent allowed all season. Barkley also had seven such games, led by his 255-yard game against Dickerson’s former team, the Rams, and a 176-yard game against his own former team, the Giants.
Barkley was the only 100-yard rusher against Baltimore. No other runner topped 63 yards against the Ravens.
The average (3.6) and median (2.0) rankings for Barkley’s performances were higher than Dickerson’s average (3.9) and median (2.5). Dickerson had a 2-1 lead in 200-yard games and shined against those legendary defenses. His record will stand for at least another season.
(Photo: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
