PHILADELPHIA — Saquon Barkley is unsure himself why exactly over the final 30 yards of a 78-yard scoring burst through the playoff snow in a run that whipped Philadelphia Eagles fans out of their frigid state and into a frenzy he cradled the football in his left hand and repeatedly smacked his helmet with his right hand.

“I was crashing out, as the kids would say,” Barkley said.

For the adults in the room, Barkley essentially means he momentarily lost all sense of control, a delightful explanation for a touchdown run the NFL All-Pro running back called the best ever in his career.

“Since I was a little kid,” Barkley said. “Just the moment, the timing of it, the conversation I had with myself. The stuff I’ve been working on. It just all came together in that moment.”

The whole season has come together as the finest in Barkley’s seven-year career and his first one with the Eagles.

Long reluctant to spend major money on running backs, the Eagles have reaped the rewards and a rewriting of the franchise record book on their $26 million guaranteed leap of faith on Barkley. He’s flashed the kind of did-you-see-that plays that fans say are ripped straight from a video game; including a mind-bending backward hurdle that was so foreign to the sport Madden had to release an update to make it possible in its game.

He nipped at Eric Dickerson. Has Terrell Davis in his sight. He’s an AP NFL MVP finalist.

Oh yeah, personal milestones aside, Barkley has run, run, run the Eagles all the way to the brink of the Super Bowl.

Stuck at just two career playoff games in six seasons with the New York Giants, Barkley has rushed for 324 yards already in his first two playoff games with the Eagles. His next shot at history comes Sunday when Philadelphia hosts the Commanders in the NFC championship game, with the Eagles trying for their second Super Bowl appearance in three seasons.

“It’s 11-man football to stop this man,” Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. said.

Take a look at the statistics and most teams have indeed failed to stop Barkley.

His 2,005 yards rushing (an Eagles record, eighth-most in NFL history) left him only 101 shy of breaking Dickerson’s season record of 2,105. Counting the playoffs, Barkley set an NFL record with six rushing touchdowns of 60-plus yards in a season. Again, postseason included, Barkley has 2,329 total yards rushing, just 148 yards away of breaking Davis’ mark of 2,476 yards set in the 1998 season when the Broncos won the Super Bowl.

Barkley, who turns 28 next month, has a nose for football history and has revealed all season as he closes in on the next record that he takes a deep dive into the history books to see which team or Pro Football Hall of Famers are ahead of him. Barkley smiled when asked about potentially knocking Davis out of the top spot because he’s acutely aware of how close he was to the record.

“It’s something that helps with the legacy play,” Barkley said. “With my name being mentioned, what I want to do, what I wanted to accomplish in this game.”