Saquon Barkley had the perfect opportunity to improve his stats late in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 22-10 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. With the game well in hand, Barkley opted to run out the clock when no one stood in his way.
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Rather than gaining extra yards or pushing for a touchdown, he slid to end the play, prioritizing safety over risk. This decision caught the attention of Tom Brady, who, during the post-game interview, asked, “Do yards mean anything to you at this point?”
This curious query came right after Barkley earned Brady’s LFG Player Award for his 119-yard, 25-carry performance. Barkley responded to Brady with a clear focus on the bigger picture:
“I mean, I can’t break the record now, right? The most important thing is winning games, and it was a no-brainer situation. AJ and Smitty kind of gave me crap. You know, definitely let someone else get the bone, but at the end of the day, stat lines don’t matter. The only stat line that matters is getting Ws and advancing.”
Brady, impressed by the answer, offered some candid advice to the Eagles Running Back: “Save it for next week, alright?” Barkley agreed.
Meanwhile, another intriguing moment from the brief 2-minute-long interview came when Brady asked about Barkley’s decision to sit out Week 18, despite being in the hunt for Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record.
“I know it’s a team sport. These games are so important. Was that a tough decision for you?” Brady asked. Barkley’s response was honest and thoughtful, which highlighted coach Nick Sirianni’s role in the Eagles WR not playing the Week 18 game.
“No, I mean, it kind of made it easy on me. Coach made the decision for me. Obviously, I wanted to go for it, the team wanted to go for it. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is advancing and winning playoff games. I feel like we were fresh, came out a bit sluggish, obviously, sitting out that game. But our defense balled out for us.”
With the Eagles’ victory over the Packers, Barkley is now fully focused on the upcoming Divisional Round matchup next week, hoping to help the Eagles enter the Super Bowl 2025.
