The Eagles beat the Jaguars 28-23 on Sunday so it didn’t end up being a huge deal.
But it’s still worth a clarification.
Because the Saquon Barkley fumble in the third quarter was a major play in this game and it was definitely a questionable call from the officials.
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With 5:26 left in the third quarter, Barkley lost the football after making contact with the ground and it was recovered by Jacksonville and returned 35 yards for a touchdown. It was a major swing in the game after the Jaguars first got on the board a few seconds before. The touchdown off the Barkley fumble cut the Eagles’ lead to 22-16.
But why was that a fumble? And why did the replay officials uphold the call on the field?
Here’s what NFL vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth told PFWA pool reporter Zach Berman about why it was ruled a fumble:
“On that play, the running back was touched by a defensive player, No. 51, and then he did have contact with No. 69 on the offense. It was deemed a stumble on the field, so because it was a stumble, when he went down, he would not be down by contact and therefore it was a fumble.”
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No. 51 for the Bengals is linebacker Ventrell Miller. He definitely contacted Barkley’s leg but then Barkley appeared to trip over left guard Landon Dickerson before falling to the ground.
Big turn of events in Philadelphia. A fumble returned by the Jags defense for a TOUCHDOWN.
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What would have qualified as down by contact when No. 51 touched Barkley?
“If no other player hit him and they ruled it not a stumble,” Butterworth said, “and he went down after contact by No. 51 of the defense with no other contact and he went immediately down, then he would be down by contact.”
In his seven years in the NFL, Barkley has fumbled just 7 times and has lost just 4.
But he said once this was ruled a fumble on the field it wasn’t going to get overturned.
“I knew it was going to be a fumble,” Barkley said. “It happened to me last year. That’s why it stings even more. You don’t let it sting in the moment but it stings even more because you have to learn from your mistakes and it happened to me last year against Green Bay.
“That’s one of those plays, they called it a fumble, I knew it was going to stand. I’ve got to do a better job of getting up and bringing him down. I tried but didn’t wrap up. So go back to the fundamentals there and do a better job of taking care of the ball.”
While Barkley said there were a few plays he’d like to have back from Sunday’s game, he had some great plays too. And he finished with 199 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns.
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