New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley’s last-second move must have upset many fantasy football owners Sunday during the Giants’ 24-20 victory over the Baltimore Ravens.
Late in the fourth quarter, Barkley broke off a run deep in Baltimore territory that assured him of a scoring a touchdown — that is, until he plopped down before breaking pay dirt to run out the clock for the New York victory.
Saquon Barkley fantasy owners are LIVID right now 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/LMXpIxNHa0
— Brian Y (@byysports) October 16, 2022
In the world of fantasy football, this is a cardinal sin.
Barkley purposely pulling up shy off the end zone is the smartest thing he could have done to ensure the Giants would win. Sliding to a stop ran the clock down to triple zeros and prevented Lamar Jackson and the Ravens offense from getting the football back to score again.
It’s a genius move by Barkley to seal the deal for the Giants’ fifth victory in real life, but it surely cost fantasy football owners and bettors nationwide a win this week.(RELATED: ‘Get Your F**king Act Together!’: Tom Brady Rips Into His Linemen After Poor First Half — And Heres Why He’s Right)
A lot of fantasy football contests are decided by one or two points each week. That said, this is the reason many fantasy participants are miserable today. In 2007, former running back for the Philadelphia Eagles, Brian Westbrook, infamously did the same thing.
Westbrook decided to run out the clock in the open field instead of giving the Cowboys a sliver of hope of pulling off a miracle to win. This high-IQ tactic is an atrocity for fantasy football players vying to make it to the post-season. For years and years, a genius play of running out the clock has cost many and ultimately made them lose money.
Barkley is the latest player to do something so smart and yet, so destructive for fantasy football participants. You have to feel for the people who drafted Barkley this season.