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Saquon Barkley (+260; bet $100, win $360)
The former Giants running back arrived in Philadelphia facing loft expectations and he exceeded all of them. Barkley ended the regular season with 2,005 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns before putting an exclamation point on his performance with 442 yards in three games and five rushing touchdowns.
He has been the driving force behind the Eagles’ offense all season long and could be the difference between a crushing second Super Bowl defeat in three years and a second Lombardi Trophy since 2018.
As he goes, the Eagles will, too. A win for the Birds likely means another dominant performance by a player who should earn recognition as the NFL’s regular season MVP, even if the award is more likely to be reserved for a quarterback.
The Eagles may not have won the Super Bowl in their first dance with the Chiefs at the end of the 2022 season, but there was no denying who the best player on the field was that night.
Hurts completed 27 of 38 passes for 304 yards and carried 15 times for 70 yards. He scored four times (one passing, three rushing) and erased an eight-point deficit to tie the Chiefs.
He has not been the same player that he was then, but showed more than once in the playoffs that he is a player who can lead his squad down the field, make key throws, and is not afraid to yield to Barkley when the time calls.
If he can come close to that performance from two years ago and exploit Kansas City’s 18th-ranked pass defenses with big completions to AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert, Hurts will add the ultimate individual award to the Lombardi Trophy.
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