Kenneth Walker’s chase for Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record has run into another tough stretch, and the latest week only made the climb steeper.
The Kansas City Chiefs have dropped back-to-back games after opening the year 5-0, and Walker’s production has dipped in both losses. That doesn’t erase what he’s done overall, though.
Through seven games, the Chiefs running back has piled up 770 rushing yards on 141 carries and scored eight total touchdowns, with six on the ground and two through the air. He’s been a major boost to the offense, but opponents have clearly decided that slowing him down is the first order of business.
Denver made that approach obvious in Week 1, when Walker had already shredded the Broncos. This time, the Broncos sold out to keep him contained, and they mostly succeeded.
Walker finished with 21 carries for 69 yards, a solid outing by most standards, but not the kind of night that pushes a record chase forward. The tradeoff was that rookie fifth-round pick Emmett Johnson found room to operate as a receiver, catching five passes for 128 yards and a touchdown.
The bigger question is where Walker stands in the race toward Dickerson’s 2,105-yard mark from 1984. With 10 games left in the regular season, he would need 1,335 more rushing yards just to tie the record. That works out to 133.5 yards per game from here on out, a pace above the 110.0 yards per game he’s averaging right now.
That’s the reality of the challenge. The number itself is massive, and the record has survived this long for a reason. It was never going to be easy, and it’s even tougher now with defenses clearly keying on him every week.
Walker still has a path to history, but it’s going to take a huge finish. He’s already shown the kind of explosion he can bring early in the year, and if he starts stacking big games again, the Chiefs could get back on track too. For now, though, the record chase has hit another roadblock.
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