Jason and Travis Kelce sing Saquon Barkley’s praises in their ranking of top NFL plays this season on ‘New Heights’
The brothers also discussed the decision to hold Barkley out of the regular-season finale with the single-season rushing record on the line.
Saquon Barkley may not have been able to compete for the NFL single-season rushing record against the Giants last Sunday, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t receive any accolades this week.
Barkley’s Week 9 backward hurdle against the Jacksonville Jaguars was deemed the play of the year by Jason and Travis Kelce on their New Heights podcast on Wednesday.
Halfway through a blind ranking of the most incredible moments of the regular season, Jason was already set on the top play before it was even an option.
“You can just put the Saquon hurdle at one already,” he said.
While rewatching the highlight, Jason and Travis didn’t hold back any praise.
“The spin move alone would have been in the top 10 on this list,” Travis said.
But they weren’t done talking about Barkley. The brothers had plenty of opinions about Barkley being held out against the Giants with a chance to claim the rushing record set in 1984 by Eric Dickerson, a decision Travis acknowledged “somehow created some controversy.”
“I think the rushing record is awesome, but I think it’s obviously the right call. He gets hurt. You got to put the O-linemen out there, one of those guys gets hurt,” Jason said. “The aspirations of the team are a Super Bowl.”
Jason expressed his high regards for the record, claiming that it’s “the coolest record in football.” He added that the one with that stat is “the baddest dude in the NFL.”
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While Jason emphasized that he believed it was the right call for Barkley to sit, the circumstances of it being a home game against the team that let him walk in free agency made him want to see it happen for the storyline. But Travis had a different view on how the moment played out.
“It still is a storyline,” Travis said. “I think it’s a slap in the face that he didn’t even have to play in the game.”
Regardless of the “what ifs,” Travis and Jason agreed that as “legit contenders,” it was necessary for the Eagles starters to rest and get healthy heading into the playoffs.
“They got four games now left to try and go win a Super Bowl,” Jason said. “One at a time, but they got to put their best feet forward. They’re starting to play great ball right now; they’re rolling. They did put their backups in and still beat the brakes off of the Giants.”
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Next, the Eagles will host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field in an wild-card matchup that Travis predicted would be a blowout.
“I’m not even going to watch that game,” Travis said. “I got all the respect for [the Packers]. I just don’t see it.”
Jason had a more cautious outlook and noted how dangerous the Packers can be when they’re on their game.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a blowout, but I do think the Eagles will win,” Jason said.