With 1:09 left in Sunday’s game and the Eagles holding a 22-10 lead, running back Saquon Barkley broke free for a 76-yard touchdown run. Berkeley chose to slide in Philadelphia 41. One more blow and the match was over.
If he had scored, the Eagles would have opened up a three-point lead and the Packers would have had little time to tie or win.
Still, it was an easy way to end the match. And it froze those who were betting on Barkley to score a touchdown during the game.
From David Purdum of ESPN.com More bets were placed on Berkeley. Score more touchdowns than any other player in any of the three wild card games on Sunday at multiple sportsbooks. It was also the third most popular leg of all parlays conducted through ESPN Bets.
Barkley said after the game that he had no intention of ending the play with a long touchdown run. That would increase his total rushing yards from 119 to 178.
“Get the first down and then go down because the first down wins the game,” Barkley said via Purdum. “It doesn’t matter.”
That mattered to many who were betting on Barkley to score. But that’s a risk when you place a bet.
And as my father told the bookies when I was old enough to understand but not old enough to rebel, “You can’t beat me.”
