Saquon Barkley let a Philadelphia Eagles win literally slip through his fingers on Monday night, and the star running back was quick to own that after the game.
The Eagles had an 18-15 lead over the Atlanta Falcons with just under two minutes remaining at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa. Despite the Falcons having no timeouts, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni called a pass play on 3rd-and-3 from the Atlanta 10-yard line. The play call would have worked, but a wide-open Barkley dropped the pass from Jalen Hurts. You can see the play here.
Philadelphia had to settle for a field goal, and the Falcons got the ball back trailing 21-15 with 1:39 remaining. Kirk Cousins then led a touchdown drive to steal a 22-21 victory.
While speaking with reporters after the game, Barkley said he let his teammates down.
“I dropped the ball. I let my team down today,” Barkley said. “I shouldn’t have put the defense in that position. If I made that catch, game’s over.”
“I dropped the ball. I let my team down today.”
Saquon Barkley puts the blame on himself for the loss pic.twitter.com/GSqIiuJBjL
— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) September 17, 2024
Sirianni drew plenty of criticism for even calling a pass play in that situation. At worst, a run on third down would have kept the clock moving, which would have allowed the Eagles to kick a field goal and give the ball back to Atlanta with under a minute remaining. A first down would have iced the game.
You could also argue that Sirianni should have known that catching the ball out of the backfield is not a strong part of Barkley’s game. One ugly stat that went viral was a reminder of that.
Barkley rushed for 95 yards in the game and added another 21 yards on 4 catches, so Sirianni decided to trust the running back’s hands in a big moment. The decision did not pay off, but Barkley’s teammates will likely appreciate him holding himself accountable.
