PHILADELPHIA -- Saquon Barkley called game. He just didn't need the exclamation point to go with the victory.
The Philadelphia Eagles holding a 22-10 lead over the Green Bay Packers with 1:11 left. All Philadelphia needed was a first down to go in victory formation. The game was over.
Barkley took a handoff on second-and-6 from the Eagles' 24-yard line and found a hole to break through. A 74-yard touchdown was in Barkley's sights that would have made a lot of bettors happy for the anytime touchdown prop, even with the game in hand.
Barkley decided to slide at the Eagles' 41-yard line, with nothing but the end zone in front of him. Instead of a long touchdown, the Eagles ran one more play to run out the clock.
Ball game.
"No mas," Barkley said. "It's situational football. A first down ends the game."
Scoring a touchdown wasn't important for Barkley, showcasing the selflessness he's demonstrated time and time again this season. Barkley passed on setting a personal rushing mark against the New York Giants in Week 7, and passed up the opportunity to go for Eric Dickerson's rushing record in Week 18 -- thinking of the team goals first.
True to form, the win was all that mattered.
"You never know," Barkley said. 'I break that long one, I keep running and I pull a hammy (hamstring). Someone is chasing me and they pull a hammy and we lose a guy for next week. Put a smile on your face and move on. That's the thing that matters most."
Barkley still finished with another 100-yard game, his 12th of the season. He ended up with 25 carries for 119 yards (4.8 yards per carry), but no touchdowns.
That's OK for Barkley. The Eagles got the win.
"We won. That's the most important thing," Barkley said. "I know a lot of people will get into stats to see how we did and if we were rusty and how did Jalen [Hurts] look, but that's your job. You're all supposed to do that. You're doing your job, but in reality, in this locker room, the only thing that matters is winning football games, whether we win 45-44 or 3-0.
"That's our mentality and that's our mentality for the rest of the playoffs and we're going to stick to that."
