Saquon Barkley Calls "No Mas" Late In Eagles Win Over Packers

PHILADELPHIA – If Saquon Barkley wants to try to break the all-time single season rushing record including playoffs, he can’t be giving up 76-yard touchdown runs like the Eagles running back did in the final minutes of a 22-10 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
That’s what Barkley did, though. He had nothing but green grass in front of him and would have sprinted into the end zone for a 76-yard touchdown with about one minute left in a playoff game the Eagles had already tucked away, but instead of hitting the gas, Barkley decelerated and took a knee.
The Lincoln Financial Field crowd went from the brink of excitement, all rising to their feet, seeing the same thing Barkley saw in front of him – nothing but the goal line – to a collective, “ahhhhh,” before sitting back down when Barkley hit the brakes after just 17 yards.
He got what he came for – a first down – and that allowed quarterback Jalen Hurts to take a knee and finish running out the clock on the first step of what the Eagles hope will be a road to the Super Bowl.
“Situational football," said Barkley. “A first down ends the game. You never know. I break that long run, I pull a hammy or someone’s chasing me, they pull a hammy, we lose a guy for next week, get down, put a smile on your face. That’s the thing that matters most.”
So, once again, Barkley is willing to put individual record-chasing behind him to puruse the game’s biggest prize – the Lombardi Trophy that goes to the Super Bowl winner. He sat out the regular-season finale when he would have likely broken Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards and settled for 2,005.
He could have opted to add another 59 yards to his game output of 119 yards and pull closer to Terrell Davis’ record for the most yards in a single season, including playoffs. Davis ran for 2,476 yards in 1998 for the Denver Broncos. Davis had 2,008 yards in the regular season and added another 468 in three playoff games. Barkley has 2,124 yards with potentially three games left.
His approach was the right one against the Packers, though. It was for the greater good.
Head coach Nick Sirianni said on Monday they talk about situations like that all the time. They call it no mas.
Barkley asked Sirianni before the Eagles went out for the series, given to them by rookie Quinyon Mitchell’s end zone interception after the two-minute warning, he asked Sirianni – “Hey, we are in no mas?” Sirianni said, “Yes we are.”
The coach talked about various situations in the past, including one involving tight end Dallas Goedert a few years ago, where taking a knee is the prudent move and run out the clock. The Eagles already had enough points to win, so, yeah, it makes sense.
“He performed it perfectly,” he said about Barkley shutting it down near midfield. “It'll be a clip that we'll show, just like we show Dallas's, and just like we show all the other ones forever. Now, when you go up three scores at that point, it might not make that big of a difference.
"We understand that. But go back and look at the Cleveland one. I think (Joe) Flacco was the quarterback for the Jets at the time, and he led them right down, and they won the game from it. You don't mess around with things like that. You have an opportunity to take knees, you take those opportunities.”
More NFL: Eagles Receiver Caught Reading On Sidelines: "I Like To Read"