Saquon Barkley Domination Sends Eagles To NFC Championship Game But Won't Help In MVP Chase
The crowd at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia was chanting "MVP, MVP, MVP" for Saquon Barkley late Sunday afternoon after the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Los Angeles Rams in their NFC Divisional Playoff game.
So, let's settle this from the top: Barkley is definitely the Eagles team MVP and should have been in the conversation for NFL MVP.
But he probably won't win it even after the amazing playoff run he's on.
Eagles Ride Saquon Performance
Barkley on Sunday put the Eagles offense on his shoulders (again) and now the Brotherly Love guys are going to the NFC Championship Game next Sunday against the Washington Commanders.
Barkley rushed for 205 yards on 26 carries and that included dynamic touchdown runs of 62 yards and 78 yards. The 78-yarder delivered the eventual winning points.
And he did all this in terrible, snowy conditions.
"Given the conditions or not the conditions, it don't matter, it's a luxury to have him, that's for darn sure," coach Nick Sirianni said. "Love him. I can't say enough good things about him and the leadership he brings to this football team. And just everything he brings to this football team. He's special."
About that 78-yarder … You may have seen Barkley and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts caught by NBC cameras having a bit of a conversation before the ball was snapped. What was that about?
"I think I was on the wrong side," Barkley admitted afterward. "You guys don't have to have that part of the story. But it worked out pretty well, though. That's the conversation we were having back there."
Barkley Turns Problem Into TD
Barkley said he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do with the ball after getting it on the wrong side. No matter.
"It worked out anyway," he said.
Add to that the 119-yard rushing performance Barkley delivered last week in Philly's Wild Card round win over the Green Bay Packers, and you'd have a hard time convincing anyone near the Liberty Bell that Barkley is not the league's MVP this year.
Because, if you'll recall, Barkley led the NFL with 2,005 rushing yards and fell just short of Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record of 2,105 – probably because Eagles coach Nick Sirianni held the running back and most of his other stars out of the line in the season-finale.
So how is a player who led the league in rushing in the regular season and postseason not a shoo-in for MVP?
Eagles Run Impossible Without Barkley
Well, you can start by forgetting everything that's happened in the postseason. It doesn't count in the postseason awards that are awarded the night before the Super Bowl.
Voters, including myself, cast ballots for All Pro teams and the season awards days after the regular season ended, as instructed by the Associated Press which oversees the awards.
Sooo …
Barkley's 315 rushing yards in these playoffs, lifting his team to victory Sunday against the Rams, and those two lightning strike touchdowns in the snowy conditions won't be considered as part of his case.
Yes, too bad. But that's the way the process has gone for years and years. And years.
And Moi doesn't get a vote to change it.
Also, Barkley plays a position the NFL itself has diminished in importance. And he's competing for a postseason award against quarterbacks such as Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen.
And quarterback is the position the NFL understandably lists as the most important.
So, no, Barkley isn't the MVP. Sorry, Philly crowd.
But one could not imagine the Eagles being in the NFC Championship Game next Sunday without him.