Saquon Barkley was the rare running back to be an NFL MVP contender in his first season with the Philadelphia Eagles, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise that he ran all over the Los Angeles Rams to send Philly to the NFC championship game. But the timing couldn’t have been more perfect for Mike Tirico in the fourth quarter, as the NBC announcer perfectly foreshadowed Barkley’s monster 78-yard, game-winning touchdown.
With just under 5 minutes remaining in the game, Tirico set up the Eagles’ drive by asking color commentator Cris Collinsworth a simple question.
“Barkley time?” Tirico asked.
Collinsworth stated the obvious.
“It has to be, no question,” he said.
Then Barkley cracked one of the biggest runs in Eagles history, his second 60-plus yard touchdown of the game after a season in which he broke the hallowed 2,000 rushing yard mark.
Right on cue having predicted Barkley’s prominent role on the drive, Tirico delivered a tremendous touchdown call.
“Into the clear, through the snow, all the way home,” Tirico roared. “He’s hit another home run against the Rams, and this one might send them to the championship game.”
In many ways, the 2024 season has all been “Barkley time.”
From the New York Giants’ bizarre decision to part with their franchise star and show off the move on Hard Knocks to Barkley’s pursuit of the NFL rushing record and MVP votes to his dominance at home in the divisional round, Barkley proved he is a generational talent.
So with the game in the balance, Mike Tirico knew who to dial up. And Barkley delivered. Again.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.