Saquon Barkley hurts NFL bettors by passing on easy touchdown

Saquon Barkley made the right play to win the game Sunday, but the wrong one for sports bettors.

With just 1:10 remaining in the Eagles’ 22-10 win over the Packers, the star running back received a handoff and the Green Sea appeared to part behind the star-studded offensive line.

Barkley easily could have scored a 76-yard touchdown to put the cherry on top, but he instead slid down and crushed thousands of bettors — particularly those who bet on his anytime touchdown prop.

The Eagles and Barkley are more concerned about a Super Bowl berth than any individual accomplishments with three more wins needed to claim the Super Bowl.

“Stats don’t matter. The only stat that matters is the win,” Barkley said, via Pro Football Talk. “Whether we throw for 400 yards, rush for 400 yards or win 3-0, I don’t give a f–k, to be honest. I just want to win.”

The stats obviously don’t matter for Barkley at this point, but those stats — such as rushing yards, catches and touchdowns — are how sports bettors make a living.

Both ESPN BET and BetMGM Sportsbook tell The Post that Barkley’s anytime touchdown scorer bet was the most bet-on in the market among Sunday’s three games.

For BetMGM Sportsbook, Barkley to score a touchdown was also the most bet-on touchdown scorer wager.

Saquon Barkley ruined many parlays by not running for a touchdown. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

Prior to the final two plays for the Eagles, Barkley had 98 yards rushing, the second most bet-on player prop on ESPN BET was on him to run for 100+ rushing yards.

He finished with 121 yards to at least give bettors that victory.

Legendary New York radio host Mike Francesa made some jokes about it, knowing everyone had Barkley to score a touchdown.

“Like one-third of the parlays bet, same-game parlays and all parlays that had props in them, one-third of them had Barkley scoring a touchdown,” Francesa said while laughing on his podcast that is a part of the BetRivers Sportsbook podcast network. “All of those parlays went away; I’m sure a lot of people were not happy at the end of the game, even though it was the right play.”

Saquon Barkley ran for 119 yards and no touchdowns in Sunday’s win over the Packers. Getty Images

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Barkley’s heads-up play wasn’t so kind to the betting community, but it seems as though bettors did well overall.

The most bet-on teams in terms of money bet were the Bills -8.5 and Eagles -5.5, while 73 percent of the money in Buccaneers-Commanders was on Washington moneyline +135.

Why Trust New York Post Betting

Erich Richter is a brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt but he has a black belt in MMA betting. During the football season he’s showcased massive profits at The Post in the player prop market the last two seasons. While constantly betting long shots, his return on investment is 30.15 percent since 2022.