by With 1:09 to play on Sunday and the Eagles leading 22-10, running back Saquon Barkley broke free for what would have been a 76-yard touchdown run. Barkley chose to slide at the Philly 41. With one more blow the game was over.
Had he scored, the Eagles would have opened a three-score lead, with not nearly enough time for the Packers to tie or win the game.
Still, it was an easy way to freeze the game. And it froze those betting on Barkley to score a touchdown during the game.
Via David Purdum of ESPN.com, more bets were placed on Barkley to score a touchdown than any other player in any of the three Sunday Wild Card games, at multiple sportsbooks. It was also the third most popular leg of all parlays placed via ESPN Bet.
Barkley said after the game that he wasn’t tempted to end the game with a long touchdown run, which also would have boosted his rushing total from 119 yards to 178.
“If you get first down, you win the game, so it’s first down and go down,” Barkley said, via Purdum. “It doesn’t matter.”
For many people who had bet money on Barkley, scoring did matter. But that’s the risk you take when you place a bet.
And as my father, the bookmaker, said to me when I was old enough to understand but not old enough to rebel, “You can’t win.”
