The Washington Commanders got the ball first in the NFC Championship Game and put together their longest drive of the season — 18 plays — and ate up over 7 minutes of clock before settling for a 34-yard field goal and 3-0 lead of the Philadelphia Eagles.
When the Eagles got the ball back, they had it for exactly one play — long enough for NFL All-Pro running back Saquon Barkley’s twisting, turning, 60-yard touchdown run and a 7-3 lead.
It was Barkley’s seventh touchdown run over 60 yards this season and third in 2 games following touchdown runs of 72 and 68 yards in a 28-22 win over the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Round.
Barkley added another touchdown run in the first quarter — this one from 4 yards out — to give the Eagles a 14-3 lead.
Barkley’s opening score against the Commanders didn’t just send the approximately 70,000 fans at Lincoln Financial Field into a tizzy. It also triggered a social media meltdown.
Best Reactions to Barkley’s Opening TD Run
Barkley’s touchdown was a prime content opportunity for the chronically online and the chronically football-watching public.
“SAQUON CRIBBED IT ON THE FIRST PLAY FROM SCRIMMAGE,” ESPN’s SportsCenter wrote on X.
“They should have stopped the game after he did that,” ESPN’s Myron Medcalf wrote on X. “Walked off the field.”
“First play from scrimmage: A 60-yard TD by Saquon Barkley. Crowd chants “M-V-P.” Barkley now has TD runs of 68, 60, 39, and 23 against Washington this season,” PHLY’s Zach Berman wrote on X.
“SAQUON ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” the NFL wrote on its official X account.
The best reaction, hands down, came from Barkley’s former teammate on the New York Giants, linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux, who went on X and shared a GIF of Chris Tucker’s character from the 1995 film “Friday” — Smokey — saying “Don’t laugh, it ain’t funny.”
Barkley 9th Player to Crack 2,000 Rushing Yards
Barkley was named NFL All-Pro after becoming just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a single season.
Barkley famously signed a 3-year, $37.75 million free agent contract with the Eagles after the Giants deemed the price for the star running back too high. Barkley was selected No. 2 overall by the Giants in the 2018 NFL draft.
The Eagles finished the season with a 14-3 record and earned the No. 2 seed in the NFC Playoffs, but Barkley missed out on being named a unanimous All-Pro by just 2 votes, receiving 48 out of 50 first place votes. Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry received the 2 votes that didn’t go to Barkley.
Barkley had a real shot at breaking Los Angeles Rams running back Eric Dickerson’s single-season NFL rushing record of 2,105 yards but chose to sat out the regular-season finale against the Giants in a game that had no impact on playoff seeding.
“”At the end of the day, I don’t care for putting the team as risk,” Barkley told NBC Sports Philadelphia on January 2. “(Nick Sirianni) is the head coach for a reason. He makes the decisions and whatever decision he wanted to make, I let him know if you want me to play, I’m going to go out there and make sure I get it. If we don’t, I’m OK with that too.”
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