The Philadelphia Eagles defense might have given up three points on the Washington Commanders' first drive of the NFC Championship Game but the offense made sure that the Commanders' lead didn't last long. On the Eagles' first offensive play of the game, Saquon Barkley took off down the field for a 60-yard rushing touchdown, immediately giving the Eagles a 7-3 lead.
This play reminded everyone that Barkley is not only the best player in this playoff game but potentially in the entire league as well. That makes it disappointing that he didn't seem to have a fair chance at winning the Most Valuable Player award.
We all know that either Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson are going to win the coveted award, which has become a quarterback award over the last decade. The last time a non-quarterback won MVP was when Adrian Peterson did so in 2012. Since then, it's been all quarterbacks.
Saquon Barkley proved why he deserved to be crowned MVP with just one play
Now it's worth noting that the postseason allegedly isn't taken into consideration for deciding who the MVP is so we'll focus on what Barkley did during the regular season. He was the first running back to rush for over 2,000 yards since Derrick Henry accomplished that feat in 2020 (and he didn't win MVP either). Barkley also rushed for 13 touchdowns and had 278 receiving yards with a pair of receiving scores.
Barkley ramped it up even more in the NFC Championship Game by rushing for another touchdown on just his second touch of the game. Two touches, two touchdowns. Not many other running backs are able to do that.
There's no doubt that both Allen and Jackson had impressive seasons for their teams but Barkley is doing things that no other running back is doing. Shouldn't that count for something? Apparently not.
Hey, if Barkley can help the Eagles win a Super Bowl, fans would gladly take that over an award that at this point should be advertised as a quarterback award.