This season, the Philadelphia Eagles made a decision that turned out to be the best one they possibly could’ve made when they acquired running back Saquon Barkley.

Barkley, who was with the New York Giants before that, had an outstanding season with his new team, which earned him this year’s AP Offensive Player of the Year award.

Barkley ended the season with 2,005 rushing yards, becoming just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000+ yards in a single season. He was just 101 yards short of breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season record (2,105) set in 1984, and likely would’ve had he not sat out the last game of the regular season.

In 16 games, Barkley was held under 100 yards rushing just five times, but had five more games of 150+ rushing yards. With 278 receiving yards, Barkley had the 2,283 scrimmage yards - more than any other player in the NFL. To say he’s a big reason the Eagles are in the Super Bowl is not a stretch. Barkley accounted for 34.8% of the teams' scrimmage yards this season. Barkley had 17 runs of 20+ yards and a league-high seven rushes of 40+ yards.

As the Eagles get ready to face their toughest battle against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX this Sunday, Barkley will no doubt play a huge role in leading them to potential victory. And there’s a good possibility we could see him break a long-standing Super Bowl record.

Barkley could break the Super Bowl record for longest rushing TD

In the regular season, Barkley had a historic game against the Los Angeles Rams, in which he rushed for 255 yards (an Eagles' single-game record) and put up two rushing touchdowns of 70 and 72 yards. In the postseason, he topped that, breaking his own career record for longest rushing touchdown.

Of Barkley’s five rushing touchdowns in the postseason, three were for 60+ yards, including one for 78 yards - his new career high, which also happened to occur against the Rams, in the Divisional Round. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be at all shocking if Barkley breaks the record for longest rushing touchdown in a Super Bowl on Sunday.

Who holds the current record for longest rushing TD in a Super Bowl?

At the moment, the longest rushing touchdown in a Super Bowl was for 75 yards, set by Pittsburgh Steelers running back Willie Parker when they played the Seattle Seahawks in 2006 (Super Bowl XL). Interestingly, his other runs of the day (a whopping nine) were for a measly 18 yards. But on the second play from scrimmage in the second half, he burst through and took off for the 75-yard score. That was enough to help them to the eventual 21-10 victory.

That set the NFL record for longest touchdown run in a Super Bowl, beating the previous record set in 1984 by Los Angeles Raiders running back Marcus Allen, who rushed for a 74-yard touchdown against the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII. Unlike Parker, Allen had an impressive game overall, aside from the record-setting TD run, rushing for 191 yards and two touchdowns on his way to Super Bowl MVP.

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If Barkley manages to beat Parker’s record and take the Eagles to Super Bowl victory over the Chiefs on Sunday, he’ll have a great chance of winning Super Bowl MVP as well. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow. Follow our live text coverage of the game right here on AS USA!

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