The result of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 18 clash against the New York Giants will have no impact on the team.

Philadelphia is locked into the No. 2 seed whether it beats the Giants or not. The biggest thing to watch for is whether or not star running back Saquon Barkley will have a chance to go for the National Football League single-season rushing record. He’s just 101 yards away from breaking Eric Dickerson’s longtime record.

It’s unclear if the team will play Barkley or opt to rest him for the playoffs. The team will decide throughout the week, but Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni talked about what he possibly could do on 94WIP SportsRadio.

“Still thinking through a little bit,” Sirianni said. “Take a lot into account. What’s the best thing for the team and also what’s the best thing for the individuals going for the record?”

“2021, (DeVonta Smith) was going for the rookie receiver record. We didn’t play some other guys in that game, but we went and got him that record. Every situation is a little different. Not saying one way or the other.”

This doesn’t mean that the Eagles will do exactly the same thing as they did with Smith, but that could be a solid blueprint. Barkley already has become the ninth running back in National Football League history to reach 2,000 or more rushing yards. Breaking the single-season record would be the icing on the cake and it wouldn’t hurt for Barkley to do it against his former team.

The biggest question for the Philadelphia Eagles over the next week is going to be whether or not the team lets Saquon Barkley go for history.

Barkley became the ninth running back in National Football League history to surpass 2,000 rushing yards in a season on Sunday in the team’s NFC East-clinching victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Barkley is up to 2,005 rushing yards on the season. He is just 100 yards away from tying NFL legend Eric Dickerson for the single-season rushing record and 101 yards away from setting a new mark.

Dickerson set the league record in 1984 so it has held up for just about 40 years. Now, Barkley can pass it. There is an argument that the Eagles should rest him and the rest of the team’s starters because of the fact that the team has the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs locked up. That’s a fair point. Philadelphia won’t have a bye week in the playoffs, but it also could make sense to give Barkley at least some time against his former team to see what he can do. The Eagles will face the New York Giants next week.

On the topic of the record, some already have talked about the fact that Dickerson had only 16 games to set the record in 1984 while Barkley possibly could have 17 if he plays. While this is a fair point, Dickerson had 379 carries in 1984 in 16 games. Barkley currently is at 345 carries. So, realistically he could pass the record in fewer carries if given the opportunity.

It’s a different game now than it was when Dickerson was playing, but if Barkley can break the record it will be equally as impressive.