Saquon Barkley's unluckiness cost him what could have been an MVP season

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley had a 2024 season to remember.

Barkley finished as the NFL's leading rusher with 2,005 yards, was selected to the Pro Bowl, was a first-team All-Pro selection, won Offensive Player of the Year, won a Super Bowl, and broke the NFL record for rushing yards in a regular season and postseason with 2,504. Nobody could have asked for a better season than Barkley.

All that greatness in one year is not seen by 99% of the players in the NFL, but there was some meat left of the table that could have added even more to an already spectacular 2024 campaign.

One stat shows that Barkley missed out on an MVP in 2024

NFL.com senior news writer Kevin Patra shared the most unlucky stats in the NFL last year. Barkley was unfortunately added to this list multiple times for being stopped at the goal line.

"The Eagles RB put up 2,000 rushing yards and earned AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors, but his stat line could have been even more outlandish.

Barkley set a career high with 13 rushing touchdowns but was also tackled a league-high 11 times on the opponent's 1-yard line in 2024. Those 11 plays occurred over nine drives (two instances of being tackled twice at the 1-yard line in the same drive) and resulted in seven rushing TDs, one Hurts passing TD and one field goal.

The most any other player got tackled on the 1-yard line last season was eight times. Five players tied for that mark: the Cardinals' , Panthers' , Lions' , Buccaneers'  and Commanders' ."

Eagles fans know all too well the next play that is called at the one-yard line: the Tush Push. The glory goes to Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, and fantasy football fans are left with tears in their eyes that their starting running back, Barkley, got vultured once again.

Adding 11 more touchdowns to his stats would have not only given him 11 more yards to his stats, but would have brought his touchdown total to 24. So much potential to what could have happened if Barkley wasn't shut down before the end zone.

If Barkley scores on those plays, will his 24 touchdowns on the season be enough to have him jump Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson in the MVP voting? Maybe not, but he would make a stronger case to win it.

Another aspect to it is that his regular season rushing yards would increase to 2,016. Maybe being just 90 yards away from Eric Dickerson's rushing record in a season would have been enough for Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni to say, "let's go for the record."

There are a lot of "what if" scenarios that most likely wouldn't change the course of history, but maybe 11 more yards and 11 more touchdowns could have made what was an already legendary season for Barkley that much more special.