Saquon Barkley won’t win the MVP award, but it’s hard to deny that he’s not the true MVP of the NFL this season. Barkley once again shined brightly, this time in the Philadelphia Eagles’ narrow 28-22 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in their snowy playoff game in the divisional round on Sunday. The MVP candidate ran for 205 yards and scored two touchdowns, including the game-winning 78-yard touchdown run that gave Philly a two-score lead late in the quarter. While the big playoff performance won’t have any impact on the actual MVP race, it did illustrate once again why Barkley should be the league’s MVP after becoming the ninth player on the calendar. NFL history reaching 2,000 passing yards in a single season. Had the Eagles not faced a meaningless situation in Week 18 against the New York Giants, it’s a safe bet that Barkley would have broken Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record.

In this tumultuous world of sports, people are quick to forget how the Eagles fell at the end of last year and the beginning of this season. Nick Sirianni is in the hot seat and people are already questioning whether Jalen Hurts is a one-season phenomenon. Back to the present, no one doubts whether Sirianni is the head coach or whether Hurts is the franchise quarterback. It’s all thanks to Barkley’s impact and presence. Despite finishing last season with six losses in the final seven games after a league-best 10-1 start, the Eagles have bounced back with 14 wins in their last 15 games. If there’s one statistic that proves Barkley’s value to Philadelphia, it’s this one. Not even mentioning how Hurts was quick to deny how easily he lost the ball last season with Barkley’s presence in midfield. After ranking fourth in the NFL last season with 20 sacks, Hurts has just 10 total sacks this season. We all know this is a race for the MVP award between Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Uninformed voters rely almost entirely on the quarterback position by default, with only one non-quarterback winning the award since the 2007 season.