Eagles’ Saquon Barkley torments NFL bettors by opting for slide instead of late TD

Philadelphia Eagles star Saquon Barkley He had plenty of bettors behind him to score a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers in their wild card playoff game on Sunday night.

Barkley had the last chance, but he showed that he was not only the best runner in the NFL during the 2024 season, but he was also the smartest.

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Eagles running back Saquon Barkley leaves the field after the wild card playoff game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

He took a handoff with 1:09 left in the game and ran 17 yards. He had a wide open field in front of him and could have scored if he wanted to, but he decided to slide to eventually kill the rest of the clock and secure an Eagles victory.

An anytime touchdown bet on Barkley was the most popular pro bet of the day at BetMGM, according to Yahoo Sports. He was -119 to score a touchdown and the third most popular stretch of parlays on ESPNBet, the network reported.

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Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts hands the ball to running back Saquon Barkley during the playoff game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derick Hamilton)

Still, Barkley said the statistics didn’t matter at the time.

“Statistics don’t matter. The only statistic that matters is victory,” he said, via Professional football talk. “Whether we throw for 400 yards, rush for 400 yards or win 3-0, to be honest, I don’t give a damn. I just want to win.”

Barkley added that it wasn’t “tempting” to score, but rather it was more important to get the first down and stay down.

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Eagles running back Saquon Barkley runs with the ball against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

He finished with 119 yards on 25 carries. Philadelphia won the game22-10.

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