Mitchell Leff/Getty Pictures
Saquon Barkley had the possibility to pad his stats late within the Philadelphia Eagles’ wild-card win over the Inexperienced Bay Packers on Sunday.
The Eagles held a cushty lead and simply wanted to run the clock out to advance to the divisional spherical, and Barkley received unfastened on a run with nobody in entrance of him. Relatively than taking the large yards and a landing, he slid to finish the play and ultimately run out the clock.
He mentioned after the sport that he opted for the slide as a result of he felt it was the appropriate transfer situationally and to keep away from damage.
“Situational soccer. First down ends the sport,” Barkley mentioned. “You by no means know. I break that lengthy one, I maintain operating, I pull a hammy, somebody’s chasing me, they pull a hammy, we lose a man for subsequent week. Get down with a smile in your face and transfer on. That is the factor that issues most.”
Eliot Shorr-Parks @EliotShorrParks
Saquon Barkley explains why he went down on the finish of the sport
Says not solely was it the appropriate factor to do situationally but additionally it prevented anybody from getting damage on the play if he saved operating pic.twitter.com/122EFSNqu4
He additionally mentioned that persevering with to win is extra essential than his stats.
“It do not matter the statline. Just one stat issues and that is the column with the wins and losses. We get the win and we maintain going and advancing. We get to play subsequent week. That is the one factor that issues and we will maintain doing that.”
John Clark @JClarkNBCS
“The one stat that issues is successful”
“That is playoff soccer”
Saquon Barkley pic.twitter.com/HSI1pzJx4k
Whereas it was the appropriate name, Barkley mentioned he received some grief from his teammates after.
“They informed me I most likely ought to’ve took a little bit bit extra,” he mentioned. “However on the finish of the day, an important factor within the playoffs is successful and advancing, irrespective of the way it seems to be.”
FOX Sports activities: NFL @NFLonFOX
“A 12 months in the past I put out a tweet after I was on my sofa watching playoff soccer that I gotta discover a strategy to get again in it. So, I am simply completely satisfied to be right here.” @ErinAndrews spoke with @saquon after the @Eagles win over the Packers to maneuver onto the Divisional Spherical ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/CXlLnQZncN
Although Barkley did not bolster his numbers with a giant run on the finish of the sport, he nonetheless had a formidable exhibiting with 119 dashing yards on 25 carries. On an evening when Philadelphia’s offense struggled, the first-year Eagle made positive his staff superior to see one other playoff recreation.
Sunday’s wild-card matchup was simply the third playoff recreation of Barkley’s profession. The New York Giants made the postseason only one time throughout his six seasons there, so taking part in in high-stakes video games similar to Sunday’s is considerably unfamiliar territory for Barkley.
He confirmed towards the Packers that he is able to rise to the event and he’ll be trying to put collectively one other massive efficiency within the divisional spherical subsequent week.
With Sunday’s win, the Eagles will now face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings or Los Angeles Rams. Philadelphia was removed from one of the best model of itself towards Inexperienced Bay, principally due to its offensive points, and the Eagles hope to return out sturdy subsequent week to maintain their Tremendous Bowl hopes alive.
If Barkley continues to carry out how he has all season, a championship could be effectively inside attain for Philadelphia.
